Adaptation
by Paladeus
Summary: The Kyuubi learns to make Naruto 'better' by changing him. When Hinata is mortally wounded during the Chuunin exams, he offers to do the same for Hinata by sealing his mate inside of her, and eventually, being forced out of Konoha to start anew.Naru/Hina
1. Prologue and Lives Begun

Adaptation

Chapter1- Prologue and Lives Begun

Ship: Naruto/Hinata

Author: Paladeus

Key: "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

xXx – **Important Notes – **xXx

**A/N:**** Full Summary, then story.** This story begins with the Genin Selection Exams and new teams and new plots and arcs emerge. Naruto is no idiot, which is explained a little later as to why, Kyuubi helps him, for his own reasons mostly, including giving Naruto bloodline(s,) which come with severe disadvantages. He gets a new team (Expect mostly minor, but some major, Sakura/Sasuke bashing, though rarely and in moderation until redemption) with a new sensei. I offer my own twists to almost everything. The story becomes wholly my own, truly, when Naruto is kicked out of Konoha and several people choose to follow him, one of which, is the person he made as a Jinchuuriki as well. No explaining after that, you'll have to read. (Jiraiya-like giggle here.) More specific information found on the "About" section, following the end of this chapter.

**This story is based on my "Hikaru" challenge in my forum on my profile. Feel free to look at the other challenges and tell me what you think.**

Naruto is supposed to be powerful in this. He will not be god-like or suddenly powerful overnight, but he will grow quickly, with explanations as to why and how it works. The same will hold true for a few others as well, but not to the same degree or speed. The bloodlines are an example of this. Check the "About" chapter to see how they will hold him back as much as help him.

**WARNING! This story is going to have slow updates as it is only something I am continuing to work on in spare time and to relieve stress of other stories. I just decided to allow others to read it rather than wait until I finished "Reforging the Past".**

Several of you may notice pilfered concepts from "Reforging the Past". That is actually because this is where they came from. But it makes more sense to me than Canon.

**Recommended Story of the Chapter:** "Chunin Exam Day", by Perfect Lionheart

xXx – **STORY** – xXx

Namikaze Minato was in bad shape. The Kyuubi no Kitsune was only minutes away from the borders of Konoha and he had only been able to come up with one way to get rid of it. The Kyuubi, being a creature that had been thought to be purely myth, was supposedly the strongest of the Bijyuu. It was rumored that a single tail could cause massive earthquakes, tsunamis and even destroy mountains; and it was right outside his city's walls. It was hard to come up with any kind of definitive way to fight something that wasn't supposed to exist.

Minato looked towards his infant son, only just born from his mother's womb due to having gone into premature labor because of the stress of the Kyuubi's arrival. She hadn't even lived but a few minutes after due to the blood loss. She had only lived long enough to hold him until Minato arrived and told him she still wanted to name him 'Naruto', after the fishcakes she hadn't been able to stop eating during her pregnancy. He was too frustrated and sad to offer his usual argument.

The Yondaime of Konoha walked over to his son and picked him up gently, cooing into his son's ear as he lifted him, tears flowing down his own cheeks as he finally admitted to himself, he would be forced to sacrifice himself and his own son to defeat the Kyuubi.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I ... I can't ask this of anyone else, can I? I can't ask another to do something that I wouldn't first be willing to do for my own village, right?" Naruto grabbed, at the finger poking into his chest softly, giving a soft cooing sound and bright smile, almost as if giving his consent. Minato knew it was a fool's hope, but that was all he had at the moment.

"Look at it this way, my little Naruto-kun. My seal will give you all of the Kyuubi's chakra as you grow older and soon, you'll be amongst the strongest in the world, even if you don't become ninja." Minato hugged the newborn boy to him gently as he cried.

"We're running out of time, Minato," Sarutobi, the former Sandaime of Konoha walked into the room, looking as somber as he felt.

"I know, but I can't help but worry about the future after this. With as much faith as I have in Konoha, I know my son's life will be hell for him." Minato kissed his son lightly on the forehead.

"Then let _me_ do the sealing, _please_!" He knew it was a pointless argument. They had spoken about it several times since Minato had thought of using the technique. He was continuously overruled.

"You know I can't let you do that. It would take you too long to learn the seals and I need you to be with Naruto. You'll only have a few moments after the Kyuubi's essence enters him to finish the sealing, and no one here is as fast, or accurate, as you," he finished, handing Naruto to the old man who took several moments to look at the baby giggling in his arms. Born only hours ago and he was already full of energy and amused with the world.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, unsure if he was saying to the baby or the man in front of him with a sad smile on his face.

"Remember the instructions I gave you about telling him his heritage, what to tell Hiashi-san, Hitomi-chan, Daisuke-san and Jiraiya and make sure you change his birth certificate as we talked about."

"I remember, Minato-kun. All will be as you requested it." Both men gave each other sad smiles as Minato turned to head out his window, stopping just before jumping through.

"Sarutobi, let them remember him as a hero." With that, he turned and jumped high and far, summoning Gamabunta, the frog boss mid-leap and then riding him out to confront the strongest enemy he had ever faced, knowing he wouldn't come out of it alive.

Sarutobi shunshin'd himself and Naruto to the temple where several ANBU were stationed, keeping it ready for this very purpose. These were some of the few that Minato and Sarutobi believed could be entrusted with the secret of who Naruto truly was.

"He couldn't be persuaded to find another way, Ho-Hokage-sama?" The female ANBU's grief was completely obvious as she spoke, already using the Sandaime's soon-to-be reinstated title.

"I'm afraid not, Panda. And now young Naruto must carry the burden his father places on his shoulders, where we wish it didn't have to be." As he placed the curious baby on the pedestal, several of the ANBU lowered their heads in reverence to the man about to sacrifice himself and his only child in an agreement towards the older man's words.

It was only a few minutes later that Sarutobi watched as a massive red cloud of chakra flew into the shrine where Naruto lay in wait. As it entered him, his eyes flashed red, then black and then back to a crystal blue before he started crying out. Sarutobi didn't even have time to reach halfway to the boy before a seal flashed from nowhere on his stomach in blue, radiating a chakra that felt all too familiar to each person within the room, then black, without the feel of any chakra whatsoever, altering between multiple seals and other seals growing before one large one was formed from each of the others. Moments later, the seal was gone, and the boy stopped crying before getting a look of immense concentration on his face, his hands fisted next to him. Sarutobi hesitating only a moment and not realizing the look on his face, still shocked at the seal forming on it's own without his help, which wasn't what Minato said would happen, picked the boy and and held him in front of him.

"Naruto, my boy. You are now the hero of Konoha. The boy who gave every breath he took to- WHAT!" It was at that point, that Naruto's look of concentration left his face and a stream of yellow liquid shot out from him and onto the front of the old man. A few seconds later, it died out and the boy began giggling madly. Moments later, one of the ANBU with less self-control than the others failed to hold in a snicker of his own.

"Well, it seems you have your father's sense of humor, Naruto-kun," Sarutobi said. After getting agreements from all present to hold the true events of that night secret, especially the bit at the end, they made their way to the Hokage's office, where he began to take care of Minato's last wishes and began his speech as to what to tell the people of Konoha about their selfless leader's sacrifice. Despite the events of the night, Naruto's presence made those who witnessed the end in that room feel just a little bit lighter. Sarutobi's only comfort with regards to the seal having formed on it's own was that it radiated Minato's own chakra. Had it not, he would have been more worried. He could only assume that it naturally formed to restrain whatever entity was sealed. Assume and hope, anyway.

xXxXxXx

"Why the hell can't I get this to work!" Uzumaki Naruto sat on the shore of the little stream with a fwump as he tried to figure out why he couldn't stand on water the way the scroll described. He'd gotten this scroll just over a week ago, much like the several others he'd been given before. It, like the others as well, were left in his home with absolutely no clues left as to who had left them, though all but the sealing scrolls had a group of people at the bottom giving peace signs. It had become such a regular occurrence that he wasn't worried when he got them, but it always bothered him that someone could get into his home without alerting him. Many of the citizens of Konoha had tried that very same thing in the past and he learned very quickly to wake up. He just couldn't figure out why this person could. Maybe next time, he'd leave a note for his mystery scroll-giver asking for another attack jutsu scroll.

"**I've told you already, whelp, your chakra output is far to uneven. It comes out of you in pulses, so to speak, and that is why you can't stay without using far too much chakra."**

"Yea, yea. But we've already figured that much out. What I can't understand is why I can't get this with a constant flow of chakra when I was able to do the tree-climbing exercise without too much trouble. Its basically the same thing, just a steady flow rather than placing a certain amount to my foot and maintaining it."

"**That's just it, you put a certain amount on your feet and it acts like a suction cup and keeps you there. With this, you have to maintain that certain amount, but keep expelling it. You know this already."** Naruto sighed as he was told, far from the first time, that very same thing.

"Alright, Kyuubi. I got ya."

"**Why don't you try working on the meditation exercise? Maybe if you can become more attuned with your chakra, you will be able to handle it better. Right now, all of your chakra is in a raw state. The meditation would allow you to feel it better and let you work with it better, just as it's description pointed out,"** the Kyuubi offered sardonically. They both knew his chakra was a little more ... wild ... than the average person's thanks to having the Kyuubi sealed within Naruto, but the boy had come incredibly far in controlling it, though he wouldn't admit to that freely. It was just delicate things like this that caused him trouble. There was so much chakra that it tried to come out of him in a rush and little pulses where some would be a touch more concentrated than the bit before and after it. He could easily stay on the water, but he released so much chakra when doing so that it looked like his was standing over boiling water, rather than a calm surface that it was supposed to be. It was still a far cry better than when he'd first started and the water wouldn't come within an inch of the bottom of his feet. It just broke apart under him and caused him to make a depression in the water that he stood in the center of, as if he were sitting in a clear, large half bowl.

"I don't like sitting still for that long, but I suppose I can try again. I just hope I don't fall into my mindscape again." Letting out a sigh, Naruto rolled his scroll back up and put it in the pouch on his pants and sat still and quiet. This was a side that no one, aside from himself and the Kyuubi knew about. He suspected that the quiet Hyuuga girl in his class, Hinata, had seen it as she seemed to watch him on occasion, but he didn't allow anyone else to if he could help it. She was the one person in class who showed anything towards him aside from cruelty or simple indifference, so he was willing to allow her to watch him. He couldn't figure out why she wanted to, but she never used it to harm him in any way and she was nice to him when she wasn't blushing or feinting. He also couldn't find him to be rude to the girl. He found that he enjoyed their silent game.

It was also this particular side of him, along with the meditation exercise itself, that had led to him meeting the Kyuubi nearly seven months prior. He'd been meditating, almost peacefully as his eyebrow had an annoying twitch, when he felt a sudden shift in himself not unlike the falling sensation while laying in bed when waiting for sleep to claim him. When Naruto opened his eyes, he found himself in the same position he was in the real world, but this time, in a dank sewer-like place. There was what he hoped was water on the floor, several inches deep and two sets of pipes running the ceiling of the place. One was a larger blue pipe about the size of his arm and the second was a rusty red color that was about the size of his wrist. After wandering around, he found himself eventually talking with the Kyuubi, exchanging insults for a while and then finally actually talking. It was an odd experience, to say the least, but the demon's offer to help him train was a welcome one, especially after having learned why everyone hated him. There was a brief sense of betrayal when he considered that the Sandaime knew and never told him, but the Kyuubi explained how he had hoped he could find companionship amongst those his who were his own age. It just didn't work out that way.

Naruto sat meditating for an hour before he couldn't handle it any more. He let out of soft growl and hopped up, stretching the stiffness out of his leg muscles. It was nearing dinner time as it was, and he had plans for later that evening.

xXxXxXx

"NARUTO!" That was the yell that many people within Konoha woke up to the next morning as Naruto's Academy teacher, Iruka, noticed the Hokage monument. Normally, the Hokage monument had four faces of Hokages past, and was a symbol of the village's love for it's leaders. Now, however, each one was painted in a fashion depicting the First as watching the Second with a shocked expression, the Second, reading a perverted book and a blush, the Third with a sneaky expression as he watched the book himself and the Fourth with his own expression of rage while looking at the Second Hokage, albeit, painted to look much like a geisha.

The boy in question was already being chased by an ANBU squad for his actions, though they were having trouble catching him. It seemed that, no matter what they did, he was able to evade their hands, even if they were supposed to be best the village of Konoha had to offer. Ten minutes of being chased and he had finally given the ANBU the slip, only to be caught and bound by Iruka, who then dragged him back to class, complaining the whole time as Naruto glared at the ground sliding past his feet.

"Naruto, you _know_ you have to do well in school or you won't be able to become a good ninja! Why do you have to keep doing pranks like this?"

"Mmph! Emgah ima g't!" Iruka ignored Naruto's muffled protests as he had already gagged him so he wouldn't have to listen to his ranting on the way to the Academy. He just continued asking his questions and dragged Naruto along as Naruto mumbled obscenities through his gagged mouth.

Several minutes later, Iruka put the still bound and gagged Naruto into his usual seat as the rest of the class snickered save for a small few. As soon as Iruka turned to go back to the front of the class, however, Naruto stretched his arms out and the ropes binding him snapped after having been cut with a small blade kept on himself for that very reason. When Iruka turned back around, he looked at Naruto in surprise before shaking his head and beginning, silently regretting not getting some metal wire for just such occurrences.

"Alright everyone, today is the last day of review for your Academy graduation exams before you become true Genin, so pay attention!" As Iruka put the piece of chalk to the chalkboard, a clear, plastic film pressed down, knocked the small barrier on top of the board over, causing pink dust to fall over onto the shocked teacher. The class erupted into a fit of half-held snickers and giggles, while some of the students were brave enough to simply laugh whole-heartedly.

Iruka couldn't figure out how he had done it, as he was being chased by ANBU most of the morning, but his satisfied grin a simple wink said everything. "NARUTO!"

xXxXxXx

It was two days later. The second day of the Genin Selection Exams. The first had been a written exam where Naruto barely managed a passing grade. Certainly, it wasn't that he didn't know the answers, but he _did_ know that if the villagers knew his true intelligence, that they would find him as much more of a threat, and he couldn't have that.

Today was the Taijutsu and weapons portions of the exam. Everyone had already shown their accuracy by throwing shuriken and kunai at their targets, which Naruto was proud to say he'd done well with. He was able to throw up to five of either weapon with pinpoint accuracy, second only to Uchiha Sasuke and in a tieing position with seven others from the class.

Now, they were in the middle of their Taijutsu matches, which were to last five minutes between each of the two participating. The whole thing was set up so that they would fight in pairs amongst their peers. Halfway through, it became Naruto's turn to fight. After having stepped into the make-shift ring, where the rest of the class was spread out around to watch, the examiner was looking at the list to see who would fight against him when Naruto noticed the man's smirk.

"Uchiha Sasuke!" The crowd of students around the sparring ring began cheering, every one of them, for Sasuke, the last Uchiha of his clan that was loyal to Konoha, as he stepped into the ring.

"**Hey, Kid."**

_'Huh? What do you want, Kyuubi? I'm about to fight Sasuke-teme!'_

"**Use the Taijutsu form I've been teaching you. Its the only real form you know, and we need to impress them if we want to pass this time around. This kid has not only worked as hard as you have, but he's also been able to have proper training with other sparring partners. You'll need the help from it."** The Kyuubi could feel Naruto's apprehension, but felt it was necessary. As much as the proctors would be against Naruto truly knowing a form, he needed to perform well.

_'Alright, Kyuubi, but what if they ask questions?'_ Naruto took his stance, feet shoulder-width apart, left side facing his opponent, and his arms in a wide circle shape with his fingers shaped like claws. He was able to hear the murmurs coming from the other students, which was understandable considering this particular form of Taijutsu was only taught within the Kitsune clans. It was, sadly, one of only three forms the Kyuubi knew, and the only one he was actually proficient at when in his human form in the past.

"**Just say you created it from watching that weird guy in green spandex."** Both Naruto and the Kyuubi shuddered as the image flew through their minds.

"Begin," the proctor said.

Sasuke rushed immediately towards Naruto, dipping down and coming back up as he got near Naruto in an attempt to land a roundhouse kick to the blonde's head. Naruto, having just finished listening to the Kyuubi, reacted just in time and tilted his head left, feeling the leg catch his hair as he planted a mule kick over his own shoulder into the side of Sasuke's head, making him stop his rotation prematurely, much to the dismay of the people watching. None of them expected Naruto, the 'Dead Last' of the class, to even land a hit on the Uchiha.

Sasuke pushed himself off the ground hard as Naruto rushed in and attempted another kick to the boy's head on his way up, only barely missing. _'What the hell? Since when was he able to land so much as a hit on me?'_

Naruto followed Sasuke and landed a punch on Sasuke's stomach, though Sasuke had already begun pulling himself backwards to minimize the strength. In response, he grabbed Naruto's hand and spun, throwing him over his should and onto the ground a few feet away. Just as he landed, on all fours, he rushed back towards Sasuke, becoming upright again and jumping when he was just out of Sasuke's reach, who'd already pulled a fist back to punch the blonde.

"Too slow, Sasuke-teme!" Naruto came down and landed a kick to the back of Sasuke's head as he spun forward in the air, causing him to face-plant into the ground hard, making his lip to begin bleeding. Getting up, Sasuke wiped the blood from his chin and scowled. He ran forward and punched Naruto in the face before ducking down and sweeping the legs out from beneath him, then rolling over and landing a kick to Naruto's stomach, knocking the air out of him.

"**You know, when I said to use the Kitsune forms, I meant to use it more than just the opening stance,"** the Kyuubi groused.

_'Sorry, he caught me by surprise, but I'll start again.'_With that, Naruto and Sasuke both leapt back up and stood several feet away in their stances of choice. Sasuke in his family's form and Naruto in the one he began with.

"What do you think you're doing, dobe? Trying to make your defeat look good?" The laughing crowd simply enhanced Sasuke's pride. They may have all been idiots, but even _he_ thought that it was funny.

"No," he replied, "I was just trying to decide if I should really use this or not. I've only been working on it for a short time and haven't perfected it by any means, but I think you'll be my first test subject." As Sasuke's eyes narrowed and the watching students began to murmur again, Naruto rushed forward, his whole body low the ground and he was suddenly right under Sasuke's nose with an infuriating smirk. He launched an open fist into Sasuke's stomach, his fingers still open and stiff as if holding a ball, or using claws. The wind was knocked out of Sasuke just enough from the sudden attack that Naruto was able to back flip right in front of the bent over form and kick him back into the air.

As soon as the kick hit Sasuke under the chin, he was brought out of his surprise and righted himself in the air, landing in a crouch. He went after Naruto and they began exchanging a flurry of punches and kicks. They now only had thirty seconds left in their fight and the crowd of students and proctors were all stunned at the display. They expected such things from the Uchiha, as it was how things were supposed to work, but whatever Naruto was doing, was keeping him on par. They watched, most in mild shock or surprise as he simply didn't stop moving and always seemed to move around, all movements flowing from one to another; never was one move sudden or jerky aside from the jabs with his open palms.

The only problem, however, was that Naruto's attacks seemed to keep the tips of his fingers damaged. He seemed to open little wounds whenever he struck out at the last Uchiha and missed and hit something else that he shouldn't have. Sadly, the form was used for Kitsune, who had claws and could hold up to that kind of barrage. Naruto only had fleshy fingertips.

With only ten seconds left, Naruto landed a harsh hit into Sasuke's gut, doubling him over in pain, making him spit blood onto Naruto's orange jacket and his own chin. Not giving up, he kneed Naruto in the same fashion, causing him to double over in pain as well. Naruto, recovering his breath first, punched Sasuke in the face, sending him back a few feet and covering his fist in the Uchiha's blood and cutting his knuckles on Sasuke's incisors. Sasuke rushed forward and managed to get under Naruto's guard, getting two quick punches into Naruto's solar plexus and kneeing him in the side of his torso, impacting directly onto his liver, making Naruto push off Sasuke and they each landed back several feet from their start points breathing heavily. Both were about to strike out at each other again when the proctor stepped forward.

"The match is over! Very good, next is Akamichi Chouji versus Endo Bainei!" Both boys stepped back into the crowd, ignoring each other and watching the continuing matches.

_**'Not bad, but he could really stand to use a sparring partner and I should probably teach him more than the basic stances. His forms are far from perfect and he was very choppy when going from one form to another. He kept trying to improvise. What **_**is ****_it with humans and not doing as they are taught? Sometimes, I wonder if it wouldn't just be better to let him go down in a blaze of-'_**In the middle of Kyuubi's thoughts, while healing Naruto's fingers and wounds now that he wasn't the center of attention again, he found something unfamiliar in Naruto's bloodstream.

_**'Oh ho! I do believe it to be time I gave the gaki a gift. I can't have a weak vessel, now can I?'**_ With very quiet snicker, as demon lords do _NOT_ giggle, he began to examine the foreign substance.

Naruto went home that day after watching the rest of the matches. He was rather surprised at some of the matches. The fights between the boys of the class showed more technique and pain than the girls', but the kunoichi fights were still a little entertaining. Several were nothing more than an all out slug-fests with claims of obtaining Sasuke's heart with each defeat.

A few, however, showed promise that the girls were doing more than playing with hair care products, though only just. There were two fights, however that surprised him in comparison to what he'd been expecting. The first was Inuzuka Kiba and his dog, Akamaru, against a boy that always picked on Naruto and a few of his friends. He was rather surprised to see the dog actually fight alongside Kiba. He had always known that the puppy was supposed to be used in that fashion, while still being Kiba's friend and partner, but he had never actually seen it. Kiba never wanted to use Akamaru during the fights in the Academy since he was still so young, but he'd held him in secret for the exams, apparently. The dog had been battle-ready for nearly a month and a half. Who would have thought that a ball of fluff and legs had such a vicious bite?

The second was Hyuuga Hinata's fight against Haruno Sakura. He knew Sakura always had one hell of a mean streak, but to go right into the fight and say how easily she would win against her was just mean. It wasn't that, though, that surprised him, even if she did manage to make it easy to beat the timid Hyuuga girl. It was actually that he noticed Hinata hesitate any time she was going to get in a very strong hit or even simply pull her punches. He'd even seen her alter slightly to aim for a spot that was different than her original target, which would have caused more pain had she not done so. She had drastically been holding back, and none of the proctors made even a note on it during her performance. Sakura, unfortunately, didn't have that problem and simply went for a quick knockout once she noticed one of the openings that Hinata's holding back had caused. She didn't have the strength to use it, however, so it was a draw by the time the proctor stopped the fight due to the time constraint. All in all, he was rather surprised about the fight.

As both boys and girls had completed the Taijutsu matches, the next day was geared towards the Ninjutsu tests. One by one, the students were called in to another room where they either passed or failed the required test that was selected by the Village Council. Even though he passed the Taijutsu exam with moderate marks, his written portion of the Genin Exams was so low that Naruto had to pass this portion, or he failed for the final time.

xXxXxXx

Umino Iruka looked out at the Genin hopefuls that sat at their desks, some of them eagerly awaiting the final exam, and others, such as Nara Shikamaru, already laying down and back to the sleep that their mothers pulled them out of earlier than they would have liked.

"Alright, you lot, listen up!" He waited for those who were talking to mostly calm down before continuing. "Now, this is the final and, usually, the most difficult portion of the Genin Selection Exams; the Ninjutsu portion of the exam. Your goal will be to create two viable bunshin capable of use in battle. We'll call you in, one at a time, and you will be given one chance to do the deed. Now, first up!" He began with the first name on his application's sheet and walked off into another room down the hall while Naruto began a frustrated conversation with the fluff ball behind his navel.

_'Aw! What the hell!'_

"**Look, Kid. You can do this. Just concentrate and use so little chakra that you barely even realize it. You've done it before, so you can do it again!"**

_'Yea, and that was right after having to deal with a bunch of villagers and I was barely walking on my feet! Iruka didn't even scold me for falling asleep in the class!'_ Naruto was beginning to get worked up. He had only managed do create a bunshin once before, unless he created them by the hundreds, and they were specifically asked to make only two of them. _'Besides, you _know _I've tried to use as little chakra as possible. I just don't have the control for it. I can't use so little chakra because yours is mixed in and far more potent than mine. You said so yourself!'_

"**I know, and I'm sorry, Kit. We just have to try."** Kyuubi truly was sorry. He knew that Naruto would be forced to forget about being a ninja if he failed this time, and he would not be able to really become stronger, making their combined deaths more likely. He had been given two other attempts and, sadly, this was the final time during the year he had a chance. They would force him to leave the Academy and go to normal classes like those who didn't want to be ninja. If that happened, then the assassination attempts would start back up.

_'I know, I know. I just wish there was something we could do. We've tried again and again only to get absolutely nothing unless I make at least two hundred of the little bastards!'_ He let out a frustrated mental yell trying to think of a way around it. _'Maybe I can ask to make a bunch of them for bonus or something... Do you think they would go for it?'_

"**No, I'm afraid they won't. They didn't last time when we asked."** Kyuubi paused while Naruto let out another mental cry of anguish. **"Hey gaki, I've got another idea, but it would mean a sacrifice of sorts."**

_'Huh? What kind of sacrifice? You know I can't let you out, the villagers would try and kill us both.'_

"**No, no. Nothing like that, twerp. I can put a power limiter on myself. Basically, it would be similar to the seal on your belly, but nothing nearly as serious. However, once on, I won't be able to break it, only you can. That means that I won't be able to loan you power, talk to you or even hear you if you try to talk to me, unless you speak out loud. It will be just like before the seal on your stomach activated."** Kyuubi could feel Naruto's apprehension as he thought it over.

_'Are you sure it would help? And how would I break it after you activate it? I really don't want to be alone again...'_ Naruto really wasn't totally sure if he thought it was worth it or not. Sure, he'd have a better chance with the jutsu, but how long would he be without Kyuubi? And if he couldn't accept Kyuubi's power, would Kyuubi still be able to heal him if the villagers got overly anxious again?

"**Yes, it will help, though I honestly don't know by how much since it will be very weak so we don't hurt ourselves later. It is basically going to put me to sleep and lock most of me away. I know a little bit of my power would still flow through you, as it can't be completely stopped, but it shouldn't be overly much. And, to break it, you would have to punch through it on your own or I can break it if I am forced awake, either of my own ability over time or if something happens to you that will cause a drastic emotional response within your body that wakes me up, since I can feel your emotions somewhat or if you try to break it hard enough, which shouldn't be too difficult."**

_'So, is it safe? For the both of us? And how long would it take you on your own?'_ The way Kyuubi spoke about it, Naruto was beginning to think it wasn't overly dangerous.

"**Not too long, but I don't know for sure. My chakra will constantly work against it, weakening it, and I won't make it too strong, so it would just depend on everything from when I put it up to when it breaks. If anything dangerous comes about, that should be enough to awaken me. I would say it would only last two or three days at most on it's own, otherwise it would be too strong now that the Shiki Fuuin seal is activated."** Kyuubi gave Naruto a few moments to think it through as Iruka pulled out the twenty-third person for the Ninjutsu test. **"Do you want to try it? All said and done, I would recommend it."**

_'Alright, Fuzzy, let's do it.'_ An irritated growl at Naruto later, Kyuubi spoke up.

"**Alright, brat, just remember I'm doing this for your graduation! Now shut up and hold still. See you when it breaks..."** Naruto heard the Kyuubi chanting very lightly, almost thinking he was purring or growling before he felt the slight warming sensation of Kyuubi's chakra flare for the briefest of moments, almost not even enough to feel before he felt suddenly ... empty.

_'Kyuubi? Are you there?'_ Naruto paused for a few moments to wait for a reply before realizing it wasn't coming. He really was alone again.

"I hope this works," he muttered, sighing lightly. A few minutes later, he heard his name.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" He got up and followed his sensei out of the room and into the one across the hall, where Iruka took his seat next to the silver-haired Mizuki, his teaching assistant.

"Alright, Naruto. You know the drill. Two battle-ready bunshin and you pass." Naruto nodded his understanding before deciding that asking never hurt, and every chance would be beneficial.

"Can I do extra bunshin for bonus?" As Iruka shook his head 'no', Naruto hung his head slightly. "Alright, here we go, then." He gathered as little chakra as possible, only doing what he knew he needed to do in order to channel his chakra and doing his hand-signs for the bunshin before pushing the chakra as he was taught, with so little actual chakra that he didn't even feel the pull.

"Bunshin no jutsu!" Twin puffs of smoke appeared on either side of Naruto. He was immediately pleased with himself, knowing he used the smallest amount of chakra he could ever hope to pull from his core and still had some come out. However, once it cleared, his proud smile vanished into a look of horror as he noticed his clones on the ground, pale and looking to either be dead or so sick, they would be about to die if they were real people.

"Naruto..." Iruka began, "you fail!" Iruka had a slight twinge in his eyebrow as Naruto failed to produce the required clones of himself. He knew Naruto was capable of it as he had done it before. His moment of anger towards Naruto for not doing his best quickly turned to shame and guilt as he realized Naruto's eyes shone with repressed tears.

"Iruka, perhaps we could let him pass," Mizuki asked. "He did, after all, create two bunshin that would catch an enemy's attention." Iruka felt even more horrible when he noticed Naruto's hopeful expression.

"I'm sorry, Mizuki, Naruto... but neither of those bunshin would fool even the dumbest of enemy ninja. I'm sorry, Naruto, I really- Naruto!" Iruka couldn't finish as Naruto turned and fled from the room.

xXxXxXx

Naruto sat silently on a swing in the shade of a large tree in the yard of the Academy. It was one of his favourite places to sit and think or just simply be alone on the Academy grounds. Right now, however, he sat there, watching as all of the students who'd taken the exam and passed. Every single one of them except for him.

"That's my boy! Tonight, Mom's making your favourite for dinner! We're both really proud of you!"

"Look, Mom! I'm going to be as strong as Dad now!"

"You've made your family proud today, Son. We're going to take you and your sister out to whatever restaurant you want. Tonight is all about you."

He listened as several families joined in the happiness of his peers' achievements. He couldn't help but think about his own parents, and the usual questions of where they were, if they were even alive, if they had left him because of Kyuubi or if he'd simply been lost from them somehow. With Kyuubi sealed up, he couldn't even talk to the only one who'd been his constant companion for the past four months.

He could also hear the other voices. The ones who talked about him. The voices that he couldn't block with his usual mask as he sat there, completely enveloped in sorrow. He merely kept his eyes closed, letting the words wash over him.

"Look, over there. Its _him_."

"They say he's the only one who didn't pass."

"Yea, its a good thing, too. They should never have let him join the Academy, that dem-"

"Shh! Its forbidden to talk about!"

Naruto was shivering in anguish. The glares and words coming from the villagers who hated him were becoming even stronger and he couldn't take it anymore. He was about to get up and leave when he heard soft footsteps coming up beside him. Naruto turned to look and saw Mizuki standing there, but failed to see the lavender-eyed girl who was just as sad as he was that stood watching him from a distance.

"You know, Naruto, Iruka didn't fail you because he hates you. He did it because he cares about you." Naruto couldn't figure out the relation of failing him and caring for him.

"W-what do you mean, Mizuki-sensei?" Mizuki sighed and looked over the families celebrating on the courtyard.

"Iruka was a lot like you as a child. He acted up in class, and didn't do very well because he wanted attention. He, too, was an orphan because the Kyuubi killed his family when it attacked. He sees a lot of himself in you, and he doesn't want to give you something that you didn't earn. He doesn't want you to get hurt by going on missions and not being up to the challenge of going against an enemy and dieing." Naruto shook slightly in a shiver as the words washed over him. Iruka was always yelling at him and punishing him; but at the same time, it actually _was_ only when he'd done something wrong.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Naruto said, dejected still, "I still failed the test. I have no choice now but to go to _normal_ school." The disgusted face Naruto made as he sat the last two words made Mizuki truly laugh.

_'This is too easy!'_ Mizuki thought.

"Well, what if there was a second way. Would you be willing to do your best to take a secondary exam?" The widening of Naruto's eyes was all Mizuki needed for his confirmation. He motioned Naruto to follow him and they both left to a more secluded area to talk, unknowingly leaving Naruto's silent watcher behind. Once they arrived in the training area nearest to the school, Mizuki looked around and began talking again.

"Alright, Naruto. Here is the deal. There is a program that was designed for students more like the Uchiha and other students who are more like you; for one reason or another, they were unable to pass the _normal_ Genin Selection Exams... But," he stressed the word 'but' to make sure he had Naruto's attention with it, "you have a sponsor who believes in you."

"What?" This was sounding almost too good to Naruto, but at the same time, it was believable with his hope clouding his better judgement.

"You see, Naruto, the job of a ninja is to complete their mission, using whatever skills are available to them. In your case, and those like it where a student may not show his ability on paper or in a classroom setting, we have a test where you are given a fake mission, where everything is set up, and you are judged based on your performance. You must have a teacher who sponsors you, who gets permission from the Hokage, which I have already done, if you will agree to it, and your sponsor gives you a black-ops mission set up by the Hokage."

"I'll do it!" Naruto was quivering in excitement as Mizuki laughed whole-heartedly. He was so excited that he didn't realize it wasn't an amused laugh, but something else.

"Alright, Naruto. If you're that sure and don't want to think it over, these are the requirements: Object one; you are to tell absolutely no one of your mission. That is why it is considered a black-ops. Should you be captured, it will be _exactly_ the same as though you were a foreign shinobi. You will be questioned about who sent you and what your mission was and what you know about your own village and such."

"Object two; you are to be seen by no one, and anyone you are found by must be incapacitated by any means necessary. You are only a Genin hopeful, going against anyone between you and your mission, so they can defend themselves and will play exactly the same as if this were real. They will attack you and they will question your presence."

"Object three; you are to be judged on all abilities used, therefore, stealth, speed, cunning and such, all of that will be evaluated, so work accordingly."

"Now, your mission is to break into the Hokage's office and steal a replica of the Forbidden Scroll," he noticed Naruto's eyes widen and decided to head off any questions, "it won't be the original, Naruto. It will only have whatever techniques Hokage-sama feels you are allowed to learn. He creates the scroll based on who is taking the exam, but you will not be allowed to keep it. That brings us to the second portion of the exam."

"Alright. I'm listening." Naruto could tell this was going to be intense.

"Good, Naruto. Now, the second part, is to learn as much from the scroll as you can and then show me what you've learned. After that, we do the evaluation and I will take the scroll back to Hokage-sama, as you are not permitted to allow any harm to come to the scroll whatsoever. Got everything?" When Naruto confirmed that he did, and summarized the actual mission, Mizuki smiled at him and then explained, in great detail, what the scroll looked like and where to find it before sending Naruto on his way.

xXxXxXx

Naruto silently slipped through the ventilation ducts of the Hokage's office. Years of being chased by villagers and outrunning the ANBU of Konoha had given him an astounding stealth ability and he made sure to incorporate ever single iota of his skill in avoiding the guards within the building and make his way through. The Kyuubi was still quiet and blocked, but that had actually worked to his favor so far. His current level of chakra control was higher than it would have been, which included masking his chakra from the guards who were taught to detect such things.

Dropping silently to the floor, Naruto went to the bookshelf along the inside wall and opened the hidden wall where the scroll was held. He checked for any traps and, not finding any, grabbed the scroll before closing the hidden wall. He was about to jump back into the air duct when he detected the Third Hokage at the door. His own ability to disguise his chakra signature coming naturally kept it at a low enough level that he was too close before Naruto noticed it to hide.

"Naruto? What are you doing with the Forbidden Scroll?" The Sandaime Hokage was coming back to get his pipe and was quite shocked to seat Naruto with the Forbidden Scroll of all of Konoha's most secret techniques strapped to Naruto's back. The only reasons he could come up with for taking it all ended badly, so he hoped it was something other than Naruto planning to turn missing nin.

"Heh, sorry you caught me, Old Man! I ain't gonna lose my final chance! This is one test I know I can win! Orioke no jutsu!" Naruto disappeared to the Hokage's eyes, and when the smoke disappeared, an incredibly beautiful blonde woman with her long hair in pigtails to either side showed up. The truly ... magnificent ... aspect, however, was that she was completely and utterly nude. The older man's eyes couldn't miss the fact that her figure was perfect, or that the truly tantalizing bits were covered in wisps of smoke that seemed to caress 'her' skin. He stood there, wide-eyed in shock as the beautiful 'woman' in front of him turned her head down and looked at him through her eyelashes to speak in a very quiet and hesitant voice.

"H-Hokage-sama? Please... touch me..." The nude girl watched, highly amused, as the great Hokage of Konoha, supposedly the most powerful shinobi in the village, flew back into the wall from a massive nosebleed so strong, it knocked him out.

Naruto poofed back into his true form with a grin as he jumped into the ventilation system again, planning on making up for lost time and for having gotten caught. "I swear, all of the adults in this village are perverts!" He quickly made his way to one of his favourite training areas to complete the rest of his 'mission'.

xXxXxXx

Iruka was laying in bed, wondering if he should have passed Naruto like Mizuki had suggested. It really wasn't that he didn't want Naruto to succeed, as it was quite the opposite, but he couldn't, in good conscience, send him out when he felt it would be practically like sending him out to his death. If Naruto wasn't able to perform such a simple jutsu, how could he hope to pull off the stronger ones? There was a natural order to things where you work your way up from weak to strong.

Iruka couldn't help but see the similarities between himself and Naruto. The way they put on a show of sorts to those who looked at them, but didn't truly see them, being the class clown just to have people laugh with him rather than at him and both being orphans. He was perhaps the only teacher at the Academy that understood him in any way and didn't hate him for what he carried and he couldn't help but wonder if he couldn't have possibly tried to help him out in some other way. Maybe spend more time with him on his chakra control exercises or perhaps work on that specific jutsu one day after class until he could do it in his sleep. Iruka would have continued on his train of thought if a knocking hadn't sounded at his door. Getting up to answer it, he was surprised at who he saw.

"Mizuki? What are you-"

"Naruto's stolen the Forbidden Scroll! Hokage-sama wasn't all Chuunin and above at the tower!" With that, Mizuki took off, making sure Iruka was right behind him.

_'Naruto, what have you done?'_ Iruka put on a burst of speed and pulled ahead of Mizuki while Mizuki was thinking something else.

_'Damnit! I thought everything through so much! How could I forget to tell him to meet me in a set place! If it weren't for that, I could have already found the little brat and been out of here!'_ He was well aware that his only real choice at this point was to follow Iruka as he had a knack for being able to find Naruto when he didn't want to be found.

xXxXxXx

Naruto finally managed to get to the clearing in the forested training area he was looking for after only seven minutes of fast-paced running after his run in with Old Man Sarutobi. He set the scroll down and opened it up, just waiting to see what jutsu Old Man Sarutobi thought he was worth giving. When he looked at the scroll itself, however, he felt a rush of shock and fell flat on his butt.

"Ji-san... There are so many! Does he really think I'm good enough for all of these? They're so powerful! All of these are high-class jutsu!" Naruto read through the several of them before remembering Mizuki said he wouldn't be allowed to keep the scroll.

"Wait, there's no way I can learn these in one night! One, maybe, but not more!" Deciding the jutsu were too good to let go to waste, Naruto pulled out one of his blank pranking scrolls. He always had some on him so he could write out pranks when he thought them up or names of who he needed to prank. In this case, however, he planned on copying any jutsu that looked decent verbatim, and then he could learn all he wanted later. The very first one on the list, Kage Bunshin, followed by other Kage techniques that expanded on it, he realized were almost identical to the regular bunshin technique, only more powerful. He felt it would be poetic justice to pass with a more powerful version of the technique that he failed the real Genin exam on. Not only that, but in writing down the technique, he learned something far more interesting about the technique.

"Huh? I'll learn anything my clones learn also? That's so awesome!" Immediately, he began writing much more quickly, realizing he could always recreate the scroll so long as he wrote clearly enough to read it later. But he could learn other techniques much faster if he could master the Kage Bunshin technique.

xXxXxXx

"Understand! I do not want Naruto harmed! I need to know exactly what is going on and how he knew where the scroll was at! Move out!" Sarutobi's robes billowed harshly behind him as the large group of ninja in front of him jumped out of formation, searching for the boy. He called all of them as they were the ones who, mostly, didn't seem to hold any form of grudge against the boy. As he was walking back to his office, he couldn't help but think of the technique Naruto had used against him, a slight blush adorning his cheeks.

_'Such a fearsome technique to be wielded by one so young... Perhaps I should consider having it placed within the scroll, assuming we get it back. Oh Naruto, why did you take it?'_ The Sandaime finally reached his office and sat in his large chair. He pulled out a crystal ball he frequently used to check up on things in his village. He used it now, to find Naruto. He had let Naruto get a decent head start due to needing to call out the ninja and having no clue how long he had been out, though he suspected only a few minutes. It truly was a terrifying technique.

xXxXxXx

Naruto had written out as much as he could, but found that his scroll was completely filled. He'd even had to finish the last jutsu on the scroll he'd already been using for pranks. He only wound up with an inch and a half left over of scroll space by the time he was fully finished, but he'd made sure to scan the scroll for the best jutsu he could find and was highly pleased with his selections. There were just far too many to write on such small scrolls that he carried with him.

Now, however, he was working diligently on the Kage Bunshin technique. It required only one seal made from the hands but the chakra that needed to be molded was very different compared to the normal bunshin technique he was used to, but at least it required a good amount more chakra, though still negligible to his reserves.

He practiced for nearly an hour before he made a clone capable of staying around longer than the initial few seconds after creation. But from that point, he progressed very quickly into making real clone that was able to move around on it's own and capable of independent thought and speech. It had taken just a little over an hour and a half for him to fully learn to be able to make them without any difficulties. Only a few minutes afterwards, he'd begun learning the secondary aspects of the jutsu that he'd read and written on the scrolls: the ability for the clones to perform their own jutsu and that, whatever they learn, he learned. He'd chosen the shunshin no jutsu, which was a high-speed teleportation jutsu, though only for short distances. He sent out multiple clones into the trees with the knowledge of what to do for the jutsu while he sat back and rested. It was only a minute afterwards that Iruka burst into the scene.

"Naruto! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Naruto was so set on waiting for the information from his clones that he hadn't heard Iruka approach.

"Iruka-sensei! I found you!"

"No, you idiot! I found you! What did you think you were doing stealing the Forbidden Scroll?" Iruka jumped onto the ground to stand near Naruto who simply burst into a large smile.

"I can do one of the techniques off of the scroll! Does that mean I pass now?"

"What?" Taking a moment to step back, Iruka looked at the clearing and at Naruto, who looked to be nearly exhausted. He was covered in dirt and sweat and the whole clearing absolutely reeked of Naruto's chakra and the location wasn't very far form the Hokage tower. If he had planned on meeting some enemy shinobi or doing something more drastic like trying to learn his own techniques for having lost his chance for becoming a Genin, Naruto knew of locations far more secure where he could practice and have far less of a chance of someone finding him.

"Well, aren't you here for the sponsored Genin test where I was given a pretend mission?" The moment Iruka came into the clearing and apparently pissed off at him, Naruto knew something was wrong. Iruka was never mad at Naruto unless he actually did something wrong. He wasn't entirely sure what it was aside from maybe grabbing the wrong scroll.

"Naruto, there isn't another Genin test. Tell me what-"

"Ah, so it seems you found him at last!" Naruto and Iruka turned to the branches in the trees above them at the same time as the voice of Mizuki spoke.

"Mizuki! So you're the one behind this!" Iruka, for as long as Naruto had known him, and never looked truly angry before. Yes, he was mad, usually at one of his pranks, but he was never what Naruto would consider furious. He certainly was now, and it made him a little jumpy.

"That's right, Iruka. Naruto! Give me the scroll!"

"No, Naruto! Don't do it! Mizuki is just using you to get the Forbidden Scroll! Take it and run, I'll keep him busy!" Iruka was inconspicuously trying to move between Mizuki and Naruto, using his sudden head movements and yelling as decoy to his whole body shifting as he moved.

"Naruto! Would you like to know why so many people hate and despise you? Would you like to hear about the secret that only _you _are not allowed to know about?" Mizuki's taunt caught Naruto's attention. He'd learned seven months ago that he housed the Kyuubi within him, but was Mizuki about to tell him about it?

"What are you talking about?"

"Mizuki, don't!" Iruka couldn't figure out a way to get to Mizuki without leaving Naruto wide open for an attack. He hadn't thought before leaving his apartment, leaving him without shuriken or kunai.

"Twelve years ago, the demon Kyuubi attacked Konoha! But it wasn't killed off like your history books tell you!" A malicious smile grew over Mizuki's face as Iruka attempted to interrupt him.

"Don't listen to him, Naruto!"

"Instead, the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi away into a baby!" He paused for dramatic effect before continuing. He always did have a flair for the theatrics. "You are the Kyuubi no Kitsune! That is why everyone in Konoha hates you, Naruto! You are the one who killed off entire families!"

Actually hearing someone voice thoughts that he himself had at one point or another shocked him to the core, making him lose his balance and fall on his butt.

"Even Iruka hates you, Naruto! You killed his parents!" Mizuki couldn't help but savor the look of utter horror on Naruto's face as he slowly turned towards Iruka. Naruto had already known about the Kyuubi, but he had always thought Iruka cared for him. At least in some way. But did he hate him too? Just like the others?

"And now, Demon, I am going to finish you off for good!" With the last word, Mizuki grabbed the windmill shuriken from his back and launched it at Naruto, who was still looking towards Iruka. As he heard Mizuki yell out while throwing the shuriken, he turned towards him, still slightly in shock. Upon seeing the shuriken coming, he knew he couldn't get away in time. He simply closed his eyes, comfortable with the idea that all of the hatred, all of the glares and all of the vile comments would be over in mere moments. He heard a slight grunt and liquid warmth cover his face, but no pain. Naruto opened his eyes to see the pained expression on his sensei's face as he covered him with his own body, the large shuriken sticking out of his back.

"I-Iruka-se-sensei... what?"

"I ... I didn't hate you ... Naruto! We were ... so much ... alike that I ... wanted you to be better ... than I was." Iruka coughed out a little blood before looking at Naruto and smiling sadly. "I f-failed..." He coughed again, wincing in severe pain as the shuriken shook above him. "Naruto," he whispered, "run. Don't let Mizuki get the scroll."

"Oh! How entertaining! So touching! Iruka, you actually fell for the demon's trickery!" Mizuki laughed out loud as he commented. "Iruka, you truly are a fool. Naruto! Give me the scroll now!" He unhooked the last windmill shuriken from his back after speaking.

"Naruto, if he gets that, any of Konoha's enemies could come for us! Run!" Naruto didn't know what to do, he needed time to think, so he did exactly what Iruka told him. He grabbed the scroll and took off.

"Iruka, you truly are an idiot. Now I have to find him all over again!" With that, the silver-haired Chuunin took off after his elusive prey.

xXxXxXx

Sarutobi was extremely displeased with the way things were being handled. He hadn't expected someone on the inside to have used Naruto's insecurities and willingness to succeed as drive to steal the Forbidden Scroll. Why would he have?

It wasn't even as much that Mizuki had tricked Naruto into pilfering the scroll to begin with, but that Naruto had done it with such ease. Had he not come back for his pipe, Mizuki may very well have gotten away with this. No one would have checked in on the scroll until it was next needed, which could have been months, or up until a new Hokage was inducted into office.

At first, he was truly quite proud of Naruto for having learned the Kage Bunshin technique. He had come in not too long after he started it and was amazed at how quickly he was picking it up. Admittedly, Sarutobi didn't know why Naruto had taken the scroll, but once he realized he was practicing the techniques, he knew it couldn't have been Naruto trying to pull this off on his own. Only a select few actually knew where the Forbidden Scroll was housed. As crafty as Naruto was, which sometimes scared the old man, he knew Naruto wouldn't have been able to figure it all out in one day, and he would have had no reason before failing the Genin Selection Exam to actually plan any of this.

It was when Mizuki told Naruto about the Kyuubi, however, that he felt worse than anything else that night had made him feel. He remembered a few occasions when Naruto was younger that he had asked why the villagers seemed to hate him or if he had some kind of disease that made the adults pull their children away from him. When this was all over, he knew he would have a lot of explaining to do. He just hoped he would be able to do so.

xXxXxXx

Naruto was hiding behind a tree as Iruka fell to the forest floor. He'd just used a Henge to fool Mizuki into thinking he was Naruto while Mizuki attempted to use a Henge of Iruka to fool Naruto. He wasn't sure what to believe right now. First, Iruka knew about the Kyuubi, but apparently didn't hate him, but at the same time, he was always so hard on him. Iruka said it was to make him better, but then, why not do the same with everyone else?

"You're a fool, Iruka. You saw the look in his eyes as he left the clearing. They were the eyes of a demon! He's going to use that scroll to destroy the village now. You realize that, don't you?" Mizuki taunted.

"You're right." Naruto truly felt the sadness course through him. Iruka truly believed he was the demon he housed. "_If_ he were the demon, the Kyuubi, then he would destroy the village. But he is Uzumaki Naruto. A protector of Konohagakure! Naruto will never harm this village!" A tear escaped Naruto's eye as he heard Iruka defend him. He truly accepted him.

"You're just deluding yourself, Iruka. I had planned to simply let you live, or kill you after taking care of the demon, but I think I'll kill you now! Die Iruka!" Mizuki launched the shuriken he hadn't thrown while they were still all in the clearing at Iruka, a gleeful smile over his face as he watched Iruka accept his fate and not even attempt to dodge. That smile faded, however, when an orange blur came from nowhere and hit the shuriken with a kunai, making it hit to the side of Iruka's shocked head, though only just.

"Don't you lay a **finger** on Iruka-sensei! **I'll kill you if you do!**" The seal that Kyuubi placed on himself suddenly broke, allowing his normal power to fill Naruto back up. Mizuki simply seemed amused by the turn of events.

"What do you truly believe you can do? I'm a Chuunin! You aren't even a Genin! I'll crush you in one blow!"

"And I'll return it a thousand times, teme!" Naruto put his fingers into a cross shop, his index and middle fingers crossing while the rest remained curled as he called out his newest technique. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Suddenly, the entire forest was covered in smoke and when it cleared, every available space was filled with a Naruto clone.

_'Amazing...'_ Iruka thought. _'He was able to learn a Jounin-class technique in only a few hours, and from a scroll, no less. Naruto... amazing...'_

Mizuki, however, was nowhere near as thrilled. He gaped at the sight of a thousand Naruto clones, spinning every which way in hopes of seeing a place where a clone wasn't occupying. "What! Impossible!"

"What's the matter, teme? Weren't you going to kick my ass?" The amplified voice of so many clones, not speaking fully in sync with each other was mesmerizing. It truly made Mizuki feel helpless. "No? Well, then why don't I make the first move!" With that, one thousand Naruto clones attacked the frightened Chuunin, barely leaving enough for Ibiki in the Torture and Interrogation department. Just as he finished, the Hokage showed up with four ANBU, two of which took Mizuki to the hospital so he could be healed, only to be questioned later. The other two took Iruka for healing as well, but not before Iruka decided Naruto passed his Genin Selection Exam, giving him his own headband as a sign of acceptance and trust. That, and a lack of any extras laying around as he wouldn't taint the experience by using Mizuki's, who he doubted would be wearing it any time soon.

"Naruto. Team Selections are Monday. You had better be there, understood?" A smiling Naruto shook his head that he understood while following the Hokage back to his office to explain exactly what had happened.

xXxXxXx

**A/N **-

**-STORY BASICS-**

**Rating:** M – Mature

**Reason:** There will be coarse language. Adult situations and battles, which will definitely contain gore, blood and violence. There will also be lemons in later chapters (Characters will be 16 or so, and nothing major until beyond that except for one scene that will be required for future issues.) There will be killing, murder, torture, etc. Also, as was customary around the feudal era, certain parties may experiment while thirteen to fourteen or so. It will have reason, not just hormones or no reason.

**Genre:** Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Mythological/Folklore, Romance – No Slash/Yaoi/Crack fics or anything of that nature.

**Full Summary:** Kyuubi, who becomes temporarily known as Ryoku (Strength,) finds Uchiha blood in Naruto's veins during the Genin Selection exam since he couldn't heal the wounds he received immediately during the fight as there were so many witnesses. He uses that genetic information to make Naruto "better". Naruto is teamed with Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata on Team Eight with Yuuhi Kurenai after passing.

During the Chuunin Exams, something happens, where Naruto and Kyuubi offer a mortally wounded Hinata help in the form of Kyuubi's mate, Hikaru. Not long after Sasuke's defection, Naruto is blamed and run from the village with his own followers. Unable to become Hokage, his dream changes. Which leaves Konoha royally screwed when he comes back for blood.

**Basic Information:** Naruto and Hinata will, to a slight extent, be very powerful in comparison to others, though it will grow to that point. They will not suddenly become massive power-houses over night. Each will have the power of a demon backing them up, helping them, teaching them and healing them. It only gets more involved further into the story. Expect them to advance easily in some aspects while difficultly in others.

Due to certain circumstances, Naruto and Hinata will be a little darker later in the story, though not overly and certainly not evil and it will be momentary based on the situation. They will develop some mild demonic mannerisms, usually controlled by their human minds. Things that will be more demonic are things that are more instinctual such as battle prowess, 'mating' or being devoted purely to their mates, little to no remorse for enemies, etc. There will be times when their demonic influences are very strong and times when it is quite weak to non-existent. This will not be a factor until later in the story, around the time of the Chuunin exams when it the real changes begin and then several years later after the normal 'time-skip' period.

**Story Progression:** The story will begin to progress **very** quickly after the first couple of chapters and slow for Wave, Chuunin exams and after. Expect chapters 1-5 to contain more information and building on the characters and story before rapidly progressing from there. After the Chuunin exams, the story is almost wholly my own with only a few canon bits, as far as I could tell. For the most part, aside from team changes and shipping and some personalities, it will follow Canon until Wave and Chuunin exams.

This chapter simply sets the state, so to speak, and gives vital information for the continuing plot line. I am going to alter certain aspects of the true story to fit my own plot ideas and twists. These alterations will all be explained in the "About" chapter (for those I'm aware I am changing – I say this because I have plans for the tailed demons and plan on creating them from scratch for the most part for a personalized touch as well as the Hiraishin no jutsu of the Yondaime's,) or will be mentioned in the chapter as I get to them.

I will admit there may be some mistakes, and feel free to call me on them so I may fix them. Some things, I may simply change and not even know it, which would mean I'll need to be told about it so I can change it myself. If need be, remember this is a fanfic and, as such, I choose to make it quite AU for this affect.


	2. Friendly Genin

Adaptation

Chapter2- Friendly Genin

Ship: Naruto/Hinata

Author: Paladeus

Key: "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

xXxXxXx

**Author's Note:** - I'm going to answer some questions that were raised that won't have a quick resolution time if left to looking into the plot.

**Hinata getting a bijuu sealed **inside of her even after her chakra coils have been developing. This is a big one and actually integral to the plot, so I cannot explain how it will happen, but I assure you, I have already planned for how to make this work.

**How much and what Naruto copied from the Forbidden Scroll** will be explained partly in this chapter. You'll just have to read to find out for sure.

**Challenges:** On my profile is a link to my FF (DOT) Net Forums. On those forums are challenge requests by me to you in the Naruto and Harry Potter universes. I'd greatly appreciate any views on those challenges or anyone who would like to accept them, feel free to let me know. I'd personally like to know if anyone finds them as decent plot devices or not. If you do accept a challenge, feel free to reply to the forum and let others know, preferably after you've posted the first chapter so they have something to visit and you can link to it.

**Recommended Story of the Chapter: ** "Second Chances" by Cybergades

Previously:

"_What's the matter, teme? Weren't you going to kick my ass?" The amplified voice of so many clones, not speaking fully in sync with each other was mesmerizing. It truly made Mizuki feel helpless. "No? Well, then why don't I make the first move!" With that, one thousand Naruto clones attacked the frightened Chuunin, barely leaving enough for Ibiki in the Torture and Interrogation department. Just as he finished, the Hokage showed up with four ANBU, two of which took Mizuki to the hospital so he could be healed, only to be questioned later. The other two took Iruka for healing as well, but not before Iruka decided Naruto passed his Genin Selection Exam, giving him his own headband as a sign of acceptance and trust. That, and a lack of any extras laying around as he wouldn't taint the experience by using Mizuki's, who he doubted would be wearing it any time soon._

"_Naruto. Team Selections are Monday. You had better be there, understood?" A smiling Naruto shook his head that he understood while following the Hokage back to his office to explain exactly what had happened._

xXxXxXx

Naruto was a little surprised that the Sandaime allowed him to carry the Forbidden Scroll back to the Hokage Tower. He was comforted by the fact that he could hear the Kyuubi offering little yips in his sleep. Apparently, when he was ready to attack Mizuki, the seal Kyuubi put on broke, just as he promised it would. It just didn't wake up the Kyuubi.

The two arrived in the Hokage's office after only a short walk where Sarutobi called off the search. He knew he would have to release the details of the night's events to those who were out there searching for Naruto, but for now, he had more pressing matters to deal with.

"Naruto, I would like you to explain tonight's events as thoroughly as you can from when everything began at the Academy to when I showed up. Alright?" He watched as Naruto set the scroll on the desk and sat in his chair before agreeing.

"Alright. Well, it started out after the Graduation exam. Mizuki came up and told me that Iruka-sensei didn't pass me because he didn't want me to go into situations where I would be killed. After that, he told me about how there was a program where some ninja could be given a fake mission since not all things could be gauged in the classroom, like me and my intelligence and-"

"What do you mean you and your intelligence?" The Sandaime knew Naruto was not as ignorant as he portrayed himself on occasion, but the surprised expression on Naruto's face made him wonder exactly what Naruto had hidden.

"Er, well. I can actually remember almost anything after reading it once or twice, so I actually have all of the Academy schoolbooks memorized and such. But, I can only memorize it if I find the information interesting. Otherwise, it takes me a couple of times through it. Anyway, if I had done well in the Academy, then the villagers would have had more of a reason to hate me and find me as a threat." Naruto shrugged while Sarutobi tried to accept that without making a surprised face.

"Anyway, I was watching the families of everyone who passed congratulate each other when Mizuki showed up. He told me about a fake mission where I would be evaluated on how well I did, rather than meaningless test scores, and said it would be like a real mission. You would create a fake Forbidden Scroll with techniques you thought I would be able to use and I had to learn one technique by the time I was found, or as much as possible. It was supposed to be like taking the scroll for an enemy's location. After that, I was to be evaluated based on how I performed." Naruto grinned sheepishly. "I suppose that, looking back on it, I probably should have confirmed something first." Sarutobi chuckled.

"Yes, you should have. Especially for something so potentially dangerous. However," he said, noticing Naruto's downcast expression, "you were taught from the very beginning to trust in your instructors, and I see no reason as to why this is any different." Unknown to both Naruto and Sarutobi, Kyuubi had just awakened and began going through Naruto's memories to see what he had missed out on. He was a little disappointed in Naruto's gullibility, but could realize that his hope had over ruled anything else at the time.

"So, I understand you are now aware of the Kyuubi." Naruto kept his face down, trying to decide exactly how much to say. He knew he wasn't supposed to know about him right now, but that he had every right to. It was actually a very quick decision on Naruto's part. The old man had decided to keep something that important away from him, he would keep his prior knowledge of Kyuubi. He knew it was a little childish, but at the same time, he realized that the Kyuubi was his first friend, sort of, and Sarutobi may try and seal him away or something else equally unwanted.

"Yes. Mizuki told me about it. But I know I'm not the Kyuubi. I would have destroyed this village long ago if I were." Naruto watched as the Hokage flinched. Naruto knew that he'd had ANBU watchers until he had been able to keep himself safe from the villagers' hate and anger, but he also knew that they didn't always do their jobs, only stepping in before he was killed, so as not to gain the Hokage's wrath save for a select few of them.

"Yes, you are not the Kyuubi no Kitsune. You are merely his jailer. You are still Uzumaki Naruto. The blonde, loudmouth ninja who plans on becoming Hokage. One moment while I get some things for you," Sarutobi got up and went to his safe while Kyuubi decided to speak to Naruto.

"**Oi, Brat! Congratulations on becoming Genin and beating the hell out of a Chuunin! Next time, remember more blood!"**

_'Kyuubi? When did you wake up?'_

"**Basically, just a few minutes ago. I was going through your memories to see what I missed out on. While we're here, however, I have a few recommendations."** Kyuubi yawned a little before continuing. **"Listen, Kid. While we're on missions, it may be very possible that you may have to use my power if things get serious. We'll need to talk to the Old Man about getting a team we feel we can trust with the secret. We can't have just anyone telling the wrong people that you used red chakra, after all."**

_'Do I really have to tell them? I mean, can't I pass it off as a bloodline or something?'_

"**You could, to anyone on the outside, but any of the Jounin instructors will know what's really going on, and you won't be able to fool your team for long. I would recommend that Hyuuga girl, as she already knows a bit about you and hasn't told anyone,"** he neglected to mention the pheromones that came off the girl in waves or that she may have already figured the secret out with her eyes, **"and then there is either the lazy kid who seems to be intelligent enough to know the difference between me and you, the stoic kid with bugs as he can relate in some sense to what you go through or the plump one that would probably taste-"**

_'Not one more word about eating Chouji you bastard fox!'_ Naruto knew the fox didn't _really_ mean eat the boy, but some jokes get old rather quickly.

"**Alright, alright... sheesh. It was only a suggestion, a good suggestion, but those are the only three in the class who have been anything other than outright mean to you and hold the best chance of not running off with your secret and telling everyone and getting a lynch mob after us."**

_'Alright, I'll see what I can do.' _ They stopped speaking with each other as Sarutobi came to the desk with several scrolls in hand. Naruto looked at them curiously as he was handed one in particular.

"Now, Naruto, the symbol on that scroll is-"

"A blood seal, I know." To emphasize his point he bit his thumb and spread it over the seal, allowing it to release. He was a little surprised to see the seal was the very same one that Sarutobi made him wear on his jacket and told him was his family seal, even if he didn't know who his family was.

"Er, yes. How did you know?" Sarutobi knew that the Academy didn't go over such advanced seals in the Academy. They didn't go over any seals but the basics for doing jutsu, which were handseals and how to identify exploding tags.

"Well, I can't tell you much but, when I started the Academy, once every couple of months I would get a scroll in my apartment filled with all sorts of information. I received a whole bunch of scrolls on seals and sealing techniques, several on chakra control and a few jutsu scrolls, though they are all D-rank or very low C-rank and I only got three of the C-rank ones, but they had a lot of easy techniques. There was also a lot of information on the basics of being a ninja and preparation and such. I'm not allowed to tell you more than that, though. I'm only allowed to show or give the scrolls to my family or someone I take as an apprentice unless I think it's necessary for some reason. That was what the first scroll about sealing asked, and I agreed since I didn't see the harm and whoever was giving them to me seemed to care more than anyone else in the village." Sarutobi could only really think of one person who would give him those things, so he left it alone for now.

"Very interesting, I must say. You needn't worry. I won't request you to break any promise you may have so far offered to that person. However, this scroll you just opened, and a few that come along with it, are long overdue to you. I will let you read that one now, and these others, I simply wanted to let you know about and will give to you after you have read that." Sarutobi sat back and waited while Naruto read through his scroll.

_Son, Naruto,_

_By the time you read this, I will expect that you know about the Kyuubi. If not, I would like to explain what happened and my reasoning behind it. You see, my name is Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of the great village of Konoha. As the Hokage, it is my duty to protect my village. When the Kyuubi was sighted and found to be on its way to Konoha, I began trying to figure out way s to defeat it. I knew that, no matter how many ninja Konoha had and how many great jutsu we, as a village, knew, we couldn't defeat it as we would any other force of nature. _

_Eventually, when the Kyuubi was about a day away from us, I developed a jutsu that would allow me to seal the demon into a vessel. The problem, however, was that I couldn't use any simple and inanimate object, or even an animal, as their chakra pathways would never be developed enough to contain it, nor would their strength of will be strong enough to fight against it. The only thing that would be strong enough, would be a human vessel, and it would have to be a newborn, as their chakra circulatory system would grow along with the strain of containing it. Anything else and the Kyuubi would be able to fight against it. _

_I couldn't ask one of the villagers to make a sacrifice I wouldn't be able to make, could I? I had to prove that I was worthy of the title of Hokage by proving I had the faith in my son to beat the bastard fox into submission. That was why I chose to use you as the vessel of the Kyuubi, son. And to be honest, there weren't any other children that were born, though a few could have been pulled from their mother's womb prematurely, but that wouldn't be right to ask that of them. Not as the Hokage. For this, I am sorry, and I would ask forgiveness, but don't feel it is my place to. I can only say that I did what I believed right. If you can't forgive me for that, then I can understand. I know life couldn't have been easy for you, but I have faith in your strength. I couldn't have done this without it. And on top of all of that, with the power of the Kyuubi within you, you will be amongst the strongest people in the world, whether you become a ninja or not. You will have that power, Naruto._

_I'm sure your mother would be willing to tell you more about me. I've asked her not to tell you who I really am until you were old enough to understand the importance of not telling people who I am until you could defend yourself. If something has happened to her, then I am sorry. You'll only be able to speak to the Sandaime for information on her and to take whatever precautions set into place. We both left him, my old sensei Jiraiya and Hyuuga Hiashi instructions for what to do in case the worst should happen to us. Just in case it has to be said, her name was Uzumaki Kushina from Whirlpool._

_Now that I've given you my reasons, I'll get on to other things. Firstly, your inheritance. As the last of the Namikaze line, you'll get the house I bought as a Chuunin. It isn't too large, but modest for a new family. It's also more highly protected than even the Hokage Tower with multiple protection seals and such. I don't say I'm paranoid, but I'm cautious. Everyone else says that I'm paranoid._

_As for monetary gains, I invested in companies here in Konoha and several others within Fire Country. At this time of my writing this, we were a relatively wealthy family, especially with so few of us and, if I may say so, rather brilliant investments. Since I can't give you anything resembling an accurate idea of your holdings, ask the old man wearing the funny hat, er, Sandaime, if he is still there and you haven't kicked him out of his chair, for an up-to-date statement from the bank. Unless my sealing plot fails, you should have a decent sum._

_Sandaime or Ero-sensei, sorry, Jiraiya, force of habit, should be able to help you out if you need them. Jiraiya shows up every couple of months and peeks at the bathhouses if you haven't already met him. However, if you meet Jiraiya, keep him away from your girlfriend, fiancee or wife. He's a lecher of the worst caliber and Kushina nearly killed him more times than I think I could count. And I'm not a stupid person..._

_At the bottom of this scroll, however, is another scroll that has a few of my favorite and prized jutsu; just in case you find yourself a ninja and needing them. You can carry on the family name! Well, I started the name since I was orphaned, but you get the idea. Just don't tell anyone about these jutsu or someone may try to get them. Also, I sealed my personal photo album next to it, which has my favorite pictures of your mother. Just ask her for the ones that aren't in the album. _

_I have so much I want to tell you, but I haven't got the time, I'm sorry. I can only give you the advice that I live by, and die by. Protect those who are precious to you, because that is the whole reason of living. If you are alone in the world, can you truly be happy? Find love and protect it, Naruto. That was the secret to my strength. _

_Your father,_

_Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage_

The first thing Naruto wanted to do was unseal the scroll about his mother, which was followed closely by wanting to start work immediately on those jutsu that were sealed along the bottom.

"**You've got plenty of time, Kid. There's the whole weekend between now and the Genin team selections. Also, it would be best to try and talk with him about your team before any of us forget and figure out what kind of finances you have and such. I doubt you'll be allowed to have access to them while you're so young, but it is good to know what kind of resources you have at your disposal."**

"Alright, Old Man. So I'm the son of the Yondaime. I have to say... that was a shock. But I'll talk with you later about him and such. I'd just like to know why you didn't tell me before." Sarutobi sighed before beginning. Because of the bloodseal, he had no idea of any additional scrolls that may have been sealed within the first, and therefore, didn't think about anything he should tell Naruto not to fiddle around with and try to tweak. He was a little worried that the boy seemed to take his family in passing so easily, especially when he had questioned him about it so strongly in the past, but decided to take this over potential anger. But he still felt like he needed to explain.

"Naruto, as you now know, your father is Namikaze Minato. The Yondaime of Konoha. Because of this, and because of his battle prowess as 'Konoha's Yellow Flash', he had a very large number of enemies. Almost all of Iwa hates him because of his having killed off entire armies with his prized techniques. Sadly, not all of his enemies were from foreign nations."

"What do you mean, Ji-san?" As far as Naruto knew, all of Konoha loved the Yondaime. He couldn't imagine someone, except maybe him, _not_ liking the man.

"Well, he had several enemies right here in Konoha. As the Hokage, he could overrule the Council in several areas. War was one of the biggest issues they fought over. Some wanted to do some rather drastic things like take prisoners and invade some of those countries to prove our strength and such. Fortunately, he was against those actions, but he made enemies by doing so. Even with guards, you would have been at a very large risk, so I gave you your mother's maiden name, or her original family name, as very few people knew of his marriage to her. That was why I told you nothing about this, and why I couldn't allow you to know of the Kyuubi. Children have a tendency to speak about things even when they know they shouldn't. And with as bad as things were for you, I couldn't risk that you would tell people that your father was the Yondaime. I'm sorry, Naruto." Both occupants of the room sighed before Naruto gave a huff and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Well, I can understand that, then. But, will you promise not to leave any more secrets about me from me? I need to know these things if I'm going to survive around here, after all." Sarutobi nodded.

"That, I can do, Naruto."

"Alright, thank you. Now, I've got something else to talk with you about."

"And what is that?"

"Genin placement teams."

"I'm afraid I don't understand. You are placed in teams based on your Academy grades and standings."

"That's exactly it. You know, as I've just told you and can prove, that I've done far worse in the Academy than I could have. Not only that, but I can access Fuzzy's chakra if I need to and will do so if my team is in trouble. Because of that, I need a team that I can trust with this secret. And I know of only four people that I can trust with that information. That, and placing people on teams based on their Academy grades is a stupid way of doing things anyway," he mentally smirked at Sarutobi's gobsmacked expression, "especially when me and a bunch of others know that exceptions can be made. It's a widely known fact that the older teams of families where they all worked together, like the Yamanaka-Akamichi-Nara group, are pressing to have their own children put into the same teams. They've even been grooming them for it by making them play together and things." Naruto gave a moment for the shocked man's face to register he had taken it all in before continuing what Kyuubi was letting him know. "Am I wrong?" Sarutobi sighed before responding.

"Sadly, no, you are not wrong. So, who do you believe should be a part of this team of yours?"

"I know that Hyuuga Hinata knows my real abilities, at least far better than anyone else, since I've noticed her watching me train." Sarutobi raised an eyebrow with Naruto's comment.

"And you allow her to watch?"

"Well, she's watched me for a while. I mean, I suspected she was there for a little while before I got good enough to sense her in one way or another and she'd never spread anything about my training or used it against me in any way," he said with a shrug. "I just feel like I can trust her and I feel a little closer to her and that she could handle it better since she already knows some of my secrets." Sarutobi nodded and motioned for him to continue. Inwardly, however, he was surprised that the boy had actually noticed her.

"She's also one of the few people who don't outright hate or mock me, so she isn't as likely to go telling out of spite. The other three, Nara Shikamaru, Akamichi Chouji and Aburame Shino usually show indifference, like a few others, but they are the only ones I can think of that wouldn't tell after letting them know about Fuzzy."

"**Will you stop calling me that!"** The Kyuubi was not a happy fox.

"Well," the Sandaime began, surprised he hadn't mentioned the Haruno Sakura girl that he seemed to have a liking towards, "based on information from Iruka, and those who passed, I know that the Nara boy is out of the question, as he is a part of the group you mentioned who's parents are pressing to have the same structure as their own old team." Naruto blushed in embarrassment when he realized he hadn't thought of that.

"The same can be said for the Akamichi, which leaves Aburame Shino." The Sandaime watched in amusement as he whittled away at Naruto's own choices based on information he himself had already explained.

"Er..." Naruto gave a sheepish laugh. "I guess that narrows it down then, huh?" Sarutobi chuckled at Naruto's antics. As adult as his previous statement sounded, he was still only thirteen years old.

"Indeed it does, Naruto. Tell me. Hyuuga Hinata would be placed with Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba as a tracking team, since they each passed and have the greatest tracking skills and potential due to their bloodlines. If I am to break this up, I would need some form of valid response to the Council. They would not see telling your teammates and they keeping the Kyuubi secret to be a strong enough reason." Naruto went into a thinking pose, in which Kyuubi interrupted him and told him what he wanted Naruto to tell the old man.

"Er, well, my senses are better than the average human's. Not quite to an Inuzuka's, but they are very good, and I can enhance them drastically as well. My stealth skills are better than any other Genin's. Look at the pranks I pulled on the Hyuuga where I'd had to break into their compound and didn't get caught or painting the Hokage monument and not getting caught until I'm done. Also, my trapping abilities are one of the best as well. Again, you can thank my pranking." Sarutobi nodded with each of Naruto's points as he spoke and sighed when it seemed he was done speaking.

"I am sorry, Naruto, but as it stands, it would seem that those particular things are not enough of a reason to have you put onto that team." He watched as Naruto cocked his head to the side and scrunched his eyebrows as if in deep thought.

"What team would I be on? Do you know?" Sarutobi pulled the paperwork Iruka had given him on his beliefs about the teams' passing abilities since he dealt with each child on a day-to-day basis.

"If everything goes according to Iruka's beliefs, you would be placed with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura with Hatake Kakashi as Jounin Instructor." Naruto scrunched up his face as he heard the names. "As your Academy grades are the lowest, you would be placed with the Rookie of the Year, Sasuke, and Sakura seems to be on the team as support to the both of you for varying reasons." Sarutobi watched as a series of emotions played out over Naruto's face and he looked to be deep in thought. Either that, or constipated, he really wasn't sure.

"Kakashi would be used because he has a Sharingan, right?" Sarutobi's eyebrow rose, but ignored the knowledge as it was a widely known fact for anyone who knew of Konoha's best.

"That would be correct." Naruto's nose twitched.

"Hm," he paused and looked like he were deciding on something. "Well, no one thinks I'm all that good, really, so you could say that I'd be a liability. If I'm on the same team, considering we both already hate each other, then my being on the team could potentially lead to messing up and the 'last Uchiha' getting killed and Konoha losing the Sharingan." Sarutobi blinked several times before breaking out into a wide grin. Now _this_ was the devious Naruto that he knew!

"Well, not exactly flattering towards yourself, but I do believe I could use that." Naruto grinned brightly. The idea may have come from the fox behind his fuzzy navel, and may have been far more derogatory than he said to the old man, but it was certainly helpful.

"Yea, I thought so too!" Sarutobi chuckled lightly.

"Alright, Naruto. I have the pull when it comes to matters of war and the formation of our ninja. I'll explain it as the normal tracking team, but that three trackers is overkill for the abilities in the group. You'll be considered the shield of the team and protect them from forces that are larger than anticipated. Think of it as saying you're a tank and getting rid of anything that may harm your friends. This will keep your team from being forced into working with another team to balance them out. This will also allow another team, which would have probably been an all-out attack force have a tracker that still has some moderate attack potential while letting them believe that the Uchiha will have a better chance of living like you said." Naruto nodded enthusiastically to show his own support of the idea.

They then discussed the Namikaze clan house, which Naruto received a key and access to, but wasn't supposed to live in for a little while except for every now and then, as well as the money that he had. However, since he didn't have access to it, the Sandaime simply stated it was enough to live off of and left it at that until he could actually manage it himself, though Naruto was to come to him if he needed any for whatever he may come across later. The two spoke for a little while longer and put Naruto in the logs for his first successful solo mission before Sarutobi escorted Naruto to the hospital to see Iruka and then home. It was as much to make sure there weren't any lingering ninja looking for him or waiting inside his house as much as to enjoy the night air before going home himself.

xXxXxXx

"What's the status of Mizuki?" Rejin watched his runner tense in front of him before responding to his query and knew he wasn't going to be happy.

"All went according to plan until Mizuki met up with the boy in the forest. The boy was far better than expected and had learned Konoha's Kage Bunshin technique in the interim between stealing the scroll and being found a-"

"Are you serious? A Genin was able to learn such a technique?" Rejin was astounded. Though the technique wasn't too well-known, it was known amongst many that the technique required absurd amounts of chakra to function properly. _'THAT was the boy Mizuki thought would be perfect for their plans? Did he plan on trying to get him to defect?'_

"Yes Sir. And not only that, but he created several hundred clones, and that was right after having learned it."

"Amazing," Rejin trailed off as the implications kicked in. Meanwhile, Tekouri continued his report.

"Indeed. However, after Mizuki arrived on the scene, he conversed with the boy and the one known as Iruka. As ordered, I stayed far enough away to be undetected and was unable to hear what was being said, but during the fight, I found it prudent not to tip our hand so we could continue with our B-plan, even for the scroll."

"A smart move," Rejin spoke darkly. Had the man before him alerted Konoha to the final plan, three years of waiting would have been lost. Tekouri shivered and nodded once before continuing.

"According to Mizuki's last communique, everything else is still in order. However, knowing Konoha's interrogation capabilities, it would probably be prudent to push our plans forward before he is healed enough to be questioned properly." Rejin nodded and thought for a few moments before deciding what needed to be done. Their chief interrogator, Morino Ibiki, was well-known amongst foreign ninja and Mizuki certainly wouldn't hold out for long, if he even allowed Ibiki to begin before telling all.

"How badly was Mizuki injured?" He raised an eyebrow as Tekouri shuddered.

"The boy had to have created nearly a thousand clones... he," Tekouri tried to think of how to phrase it without having to see it again in his mind's eye, "... I doubt Mizuki had many bones that were not broken and he was quite drastically hurt beyond that. I would have to say, with Konoha's medical abilities, we would have a month or so to get the mission underway before they feel he is well enough to question properly." Rejin nodded.

"Perhaps it would be best to eliminate him before he can be questioned. If they find out that we were behind this..." he paused before thinking quickly. He had always known this may happen, and had certainly had a few contingency plans, but which to employ?

"He is under too much security to be circumspect about it, Sir. Whoever goes in would not make it out without either dieing or being questioned themselves. I ran a quick surveillance of the hospital where they're holding him and I truly doubt we could make it to him, much less kill him, I'm afraid." That would certainly put a kink in their plans, but perhaps it could work out to their favor.

"Very well. Mizuki is a lost cause. We should kill him as quickly as possible, but remain focused on our original target. It was the weakest who passed, yes?"

"Hai, Sir."

"Very well. We'll begin in three weeks to get it worked out properly so that the target is on the team chosen. Keep an eye on Mizuki and if it seems as though he will healed sooner, be sure to alert me so we can move our plans up. Dismissed." In a flourish of speed, Tekouri was out of the room while Rejin began to plot his bid to take Cloud back and on the path it should have gone on long ago.

xXxXxXx

Naruto woke up early the next day and thought about everything that had happened the night before while doing his morning rituals. It was when he was thinking about the scrolls his father left for him that he remembered he'd copied a moderate portion of the Forbidden Scroll in his own pranking scrolls. He had only been able to copy a dozen and a half or so because of the size of his personal scrolls and copying all of the information for each jutsu had taken up quite a bit of space, leaving him choosing only the ones that had sounded the most interesting.

Deciding that he had not taken anything truly dangerous, he felt he would keep them and just seal them away in his own private jutsu scroll. It held scrolls filled with anything he had ever managed to get his hands on, especially considering he was never allowed into the Shinobi Library. It housed all the scrolls his mysterious benefactor had given him, sealed using the techniques given in those very scrolls, and now his family scrolls and the copied Forbidden Jutsu scrolls. Anything he had ever been able to get that seemed to be in too bad of shape to keep was copied on fresh scrolls while the old scrolls were placed in one just for originals. Having the life of an orphan, he found himself as quite the pack rat.

Naruto pulled out the letter from his father and unsealed the album that showed his mother and father from within it. He looked it twice, making sure to memorize every aspect. It wasn't much, considering the Kyuubi was on his way at the time and only showed a single picture of all three of them right after his apparent birth, but it sent the message he had searched for his entire life: he truly was loved, even if by a woman long-since passed.

"**I know you want to get to all the kick-ass jutsu that is in this thing, but we should work on the basics for now. You're still a little too choppy on this and it would probably be best to get water walking down before attempting any of them."**

"Aw, come on, Kyuubi! I've been working on that for a long time now and I haven't been advancing! I've been stuck at this part for a long time now! Can't I work on at least one of my father's jutsu?" Kyuubi really wouldn't have cared, but his control was horrible. But then, the letter from his father and the text in the Forbidden Scroll came to him. It was a very predatory grin that made him look bloodthirsty, even if no one could see it.

"**I've got an idea, gaki. Remember how both your father and the Forbidden Scroll said that you could use Kage Bunshin to train faster by gaining whatever experience they learn?"** The Kyuubi's enthusiasm grew as Naruto caught on to what he was saying. **"I can lend you a fair amount of my power and you can create as many clones as you can. Then, they can work on water walking, jutsu, reading other scrolls or whatever we need. I would suggest about half of whatever you make work on water walking, however."**

"Alright, Kyuubi. But we should get to a decent training ground first." With that, Naruto took off, his scroll in his pocket and his new forehead protector holding up his hair on his forehead. He decided his first stop, however, would be Ichiraku's for some celebratory ramen. One of the last things the old man had done the night before was instate Naruto as a Genin and then put him down for his first S-class mission: the retrieval of the Forbidden Scroll, capture of a Chuunin-turned-traitor and defense of a Konoha Shinobi. He had plenty of money to cover his meal.

He was running towards Ichiraku's and was only a few feet away before he crashed into something soft and warm, taking it down with him as he tumbled with a yelp of surprise, twisting so that whoever he'd run into, as the grunt of surprise from them proved it to be human, would fall on top of him, cushioning their fall. It was a shame he didn't think about the elbows.

"OOMPH!" The moment that he landed and knew he wasn't going anywhere, he opened his eyes to see a mass of dark blue hair over a face scrunched up in expectation of pain from the fall. "H-Hello Hinata." The moment his voice started speaking, the face that was pale white and expecting fear suddenly flared into a dark red and her eyes opened wide, showing her surprise and shock.

"N-Naruto-kun!" She quickly got up and began pushing her fingertips together. "I-I'm sorry! I did-didn't mean t-t-to run into y-you like that!"

"No worries, Hinata! It was totally my fault for thinking about ramen and not watching where I was going," he said as he stood up, brushing the dust off of his clothes. "So what are you doing out here so early?"

"Ano... I w-wanted to say I was sorry that you d-didn't make Genin." Hinata quickly looked down at the ground from where she had been looking to the side in hopes of not seeing his angry face when they bumped into each other. Naruto simply gave a happy laugh while pointing at his forehead where Iruka's own forehead protector now rested.

"Ha! I am a Genin!" He smiled his foxy smile at her as she quickly looked up to where he was pointing and smiled at him.

"Congratulations, Naruto-kun!" Hinata bounced mid-praise, barely resisting an urge to hug him. The feeling had been coming a little more often recently, but she had, thankfully, usually been far enough away to not worry about catching it so fast.

"Hehe! How about you have some ramen with me and I'll explain! I'll also tell you who's gonna be on our team!" Naruto, not realizing Hinata had a dazed look on her face, simply dragged the bright-red girl into the ramen stand where Old Man Teuchi and his daughter, Ayame, were setting up for the day.

"Hey, Old Man! Three bowls of teriyaki ramen and two shrimp and lime flavor for me and whatever Hinata wants for my new teammate!" Naruto sat down heavily in his usual stool as Hinata sat delicately in the one next to it.

"You got it, Naruto! So what would your friend like?"

"One t-teriyaki, please." Hinata rested her hands on the counter in front of her and twiddled her thumbs while Naruto began his tale for herself and the two behind the counter, leaving out everything about the Kyuubi and his father and making sure to say as many bad things about Mizuki as he could while keeping it as clean as he thought he should with Hinata listening at Kyuubi's prompting. By the time he was finished, he had finished his three teriyaki ramen along with three pork, spicy vegetable, chicken, beef and one miso and had just started his lime and shrimp. Hinata still had a few noodles left of her own, having been taught to always leave a little of all portions in her bowl or plate.

"So, the old man upstairs put me down in the books for my first ever, solo, S-rank mission!" Naruto sat back as Ayame giggled at his antics and Teuchi offered him his ramen half-price for doing such a great service to Konoha, and secretly for having shared it with a new friend. Hinata couldn't help but think of how great he was, though one thought kept intruding on her fantasies, er, thinking.

"Ano, N-Naruto-kun. Why do you keep calling me your teammate?" She felt a little self-conscious as he looked blankly at her before smiling.

"Because you are," he said, smiling. "I've got secrets that my teammates with have to know, and I knew I could trust you, so I told Ji-san about it and he agreed. Also, we'll have Aburame Shino." While Hinata was stuck on the concept of Naruto trusting her with his secrets, both Teuchi and Ayame knew exactly what he was talking about. Having seen the young girl next to him spy on him eating quite often, they knew he'd chosen well in at least one teammate.

Naruto put enough money on the counter top to cover both his and Hinata's meals, once again at the Kyuubi's prompting, which embarrassed the poor girl to near-feinting again. "N-Naruto-k-kun, y-you d-d-don't have t-to pay for m-me!"

"Nonsense! I asked you to breakfast to tell you how I passed and that we'd be on the same team, so it isn't a big deal. Right now, I'm planning on trying this stupid chakra control exercise that doesn't seem to get any better, so I'll talk to you later!" As he turned to leave, he noticed her poor fingers practically a blur in front of her chest and her face rather red. He simply ignored it as her usual behavior.

After arriving at his training area, not noticing the pale-eyed girl watching from a distance, Naruto began his water walking exercises.

XxXxXxXx

Hinata's day had started out quite bleak. She had hoped that both she and Naruto would have passed the Genin Selection Exams and end up on the same team together, then he would notice her, and then love her... She blushed deeply in the shower before quickly stepping out and getting dressed. However, with Naruto's failing again, all of her hopes were crushed. Worried that it would be pretty much the last time she would have to speak with him before she was assigned to a Genin team in two days, she decided she would go to the one place she knew he would be that morning; at Ichiraku Ramen.

After arriving, she was thrilled that Naruto had found another way to pass, and then he said that she would be on his own team because he knew he could trust her! He had a secret that he wanted to share with only her! Well, sure, maybe Shino as well, but he did say he trusted her. And that was enough for now. And him buying her breakfast was a good sign as well. Every friendship, or anything deeper, had to start somewhere.

She had to admit, if it had been anyone other than Naruto telling the story he had told, she probably would have been at least a little skeptical. Naruto, however, may have been a prankster, but she didn't know of any one time he had ever lied. Regardless of the consequences. Embellish, most definitely, but never lie.

When he told her about his chakra control issues, she knew she would be able to help him, but at the same time, she wasn't sure if she should offer her help. Would he think she didn't think he could get it? Would he not even want her help? Instead, she decided she would follow him and get an idea of what he was doing and what he may have been doing wrong so she could try to help him later. Following that train of thought, she followed him to his favourite training area; a clearing in one of the more unused training grounds that had a small pond and lots of trees around a comfortably-sized clearing.

If Hinata had doubted his story before, she didn't after he summoned hundreds of clones of himself. She had nearly begun to hyperventilate when that many Naruto's came into sight of her Byakugan. She was glad she was as far away as she was still, or one of those new Naruto's would have found her.

"All right! You all know what to do!" A very loud chorus of 'Hai' followed and then they scattered along the pond and into the neighboring training area where there was another river that fed this pond from underground. She watched in amazement as each one of them worked for hours in attempts to correct their water walking. She was amazed that each of the clones had their own chakra circulatory systems. Normal clones showed up only as a haze of chakra, but his looked identical to each other. She couldn't tell the real from the multiple fakes as they all had the exact same amount of chakra which, even with as many as there were, they still held more chakra than herself.

For the first two hours, she watched as he tried the same things over and over again, which is exactly what she would have told him about doing. He was doing everything properly, so she couldn't figure out what was wrong. She decided to look into his chakra circulatory system with more scrutiny to see if his chakra was flowing correctly when she noticed that his chakra had brighter patches generating very quickly. It was when these brighter patches hit the water that a rush of bubbles came forth. The differences were so slight that she almost couldn't see it, even when she began looking for them.

Frowning, she spent the second hour trying to figure out what was making the brighter chakra. She wasn't sure how it was happening, but it seemed as though the chakra were more compressed or potent as it was brighter than the usual chakra. Once she found that out, she realized she had no clue how to help him with that. She decided to leave and look over her clan scrolls for anything that may help her new teammate. As she leapt from tree to tree, she couldn't help but smile at that thought.

XxXxXxXx

Naruto woke up Monday morning with his body feeling a little heavy. He'd spent almost the whole day after breakfast with Hinata at Ichiraku's working on his water walking exercise and hadn't managed to get any further at all. He'd finally gotten Kyuubi to allow him to work on one of the new jutsu and it had only taken pestering the fuzz ball from dinner until bed and a few hours' worth of time in the mindscape after that. He hadn't realized that Kyuubi was so pissed off at the boy that he'd activated Naruto's genjutsu bracers and increased the weight and planned on doing so constantly at times he knew Naruto wouldn't notice. Payback was a bitch sometimes.

"**Hey gaki."**

"What do you want, Kyuubi?"

"**A couple of things, actually. I need you to come into your mindscape for a few minutes. I've got some stuff to go over with you."** Kyuubi waited while Naruto came into the room that housed his cage.

"What do you need, Fuzzy?" Naruto plopped down on the floor in front of Kyuubi's cage while the Kyuubi growled slightly at him.

"**Alright. First thing's first,"** suddenly a scroll appeared in Naruto's lap. **"That is the summoning scroll for foxes and kitsune. I need you to unroll it and sign your name in blood from your finger and then place fingerprints just below it using the blood from your bite wound. Normally, this isn't needed, but I am going to allow you to decide if anyone else gets to summon, so the scroll, and thus your signing it, are needed."**

"Alright Kyuubi, I got ya." Naruto happily obliged Kyuubi's directions. Once done, the scroll rolled itself up, popped up into the air and disappeared. "You just _love_ the theatrics, don't you," Naruto groused while Kyuubi smiled cheekily at him, which looked a little demented from Naruto's standpoint.

"**A bit. Now, other than that, you have a habit of talking to me out loud when you don't think anyone is around. That was all well and good when you didn't spend a whole lot of time around other people, but now that you have a team, you can't do that too much, or talk about me too much, until they know your secret."**

"So what are you planning on doing about that," Naruto interrupted.

"**I was getting to that, Gaki! Now, 'Kyuubi' is simply a title. My name, before I became strong enough for that title, was 'Ryoku'. I'd like for you to try and start calling me that. It will allow you to talk to your Jounin instructor about me while around your friends without worrying about much until you tell them. Just say I was someone you met that helped you out a bit on different things when I was around and could."**

"Alright, I can do that, Ryoku." The large demon fox in front of him smiled, gruesome as it was.

"**Be honored, Brat. You're the first human in over two thousand years to know my true name. Now, aside from that, I'm going to go ahead and show you what to do to summon. Now, perform these handseals..."** Ryoku forced Naruto into practicing the handseals needed for the summoning jutsu over and over again until Naruto could perform them quickly enough to his satisfaction and he could be sure that he had them memorized. **"Alright. Now you've got that part figured out. Next, we're going to practice actually performing the summoning, but that will have to wait. For now, its time for you to get to the Academy."**

Naruto immediately found himself in his room and rushed out the window towards the Academy about ten minutes earlier than he normally would have left. When he arrived, he was actually the only one in the classroom. He sat in his usual seat and laid his head on the desk before an idea struck him. With a predatory grin to make Ryoku proud, Naruto quickly created two clones. One, still looking as himself, rushed out towards the entrance to the Academy while the other used a Henge to change into Iruka and sat behind the desk and then they waited.

XxXxXxXx

Yuuhi Kurenai woke up feeling rather happy. She had been a Jounin for a little over four months and had decided to take a Genin team. Admittedly, part of it was due to her wanting to pass on some of her knowledge, while the majority of it was because she wanted to be the one to teach Hyuuga Hinata. She had escorted Hinata to and from the Academy while she was still a Chuunin until Hinata had learned enough to defend against villagers or at least make enough noise for someone to know something was happening if it were an enemy ninja from another village. During that time, she'd developed something of a sisterly or motherly bond with the girl. She wasn't entirely sure what to call it as of yet. Kurenai had specifically requested to teach Hinata's team and had, thankfully, been given permission. With some of the perverts around here, she really didn't want any of them to make the girl as uncomfortable as she knew Hinata could get.

Kurenai had awakened very early and made her way to her favourite restaurant to get some breakfast. Her cooking was adequate, but not her preferred choice. Afterwards, she met up with the other Jounin who were taking teams for their tests. Arriving in the Jounin lounge of the Hokage Tower, she sat next to Sarutobi Asuma and Hatake Kakashi.

"Ah, hello Kurenai! How are you feeling about your first group of Genin hopefuls?" Asuma took a long drag on his cigarette while waiting for her reply.

"Fairly confident, actually. I've known Hinata for some time now and the Aburame tend to work well with anyone who isn't outrightly confrontational or hostile towards them. I'm not sure how well Uzumaki will work with them, but there is more to him than he lets on, I think. When I scouted the class, he looked like he was doodling, but when I looked at the scroll, they were some rather detailed notes for pranking someone he nicknamed 'Ero-Aidokusha", or 'Perverted Reader". The level of detail and notes on where he could get caught had me amazed." She took a sip of her coffee while Asuma looked at her a little strangely.

"Why would you have scouted the class?" Kurenai gave him a short-lived glare.

"Am I the only one who wanted to know what the students' personalities were in a natural setting? Though I think the Inuzuka kid smelled me." While Asuma had the grace to look chastised, Kakashi spoke without looking up from his perverted book.

"The Aburame and Hyuuga shouldn't pose much of a problem, but Naruto could gum up your team dynamics. He's supposed to have little skill in taijutsu, knows only the basic ninjutsu taught at the Academy and no skill whatsoever in genjutsu." He finally looked at Kurenai, his eye in an upside down 'U' shape and his face mask crinkled, indicating he was smiling. "Of course, with the rumors of that jutsu he created to escape the ANBU and Chuunin units that were supposed to chase him, you may find yourself at his mercy." Kurenai knew that he was referring to a rumor that had begun getting spread around about a year before she had made Jounin from a man she had turned down who went around town saying she refused him because she was a lesbian. She simply preferred to get into a relationship with a man who wasn't focused primarily on sex. Kakashi, however, felt that his joking was all good-natured and innocent. But it pissed her off royally. This was far from the first time he had made reference to it and if he hadn't had that Sharingan behind his forehead protector, she would have put him in a genjutsu of the most sadistic nature. But every time she did, he would use the Sharingan to get out of it.

"Kakashi, I think this is the last time you make any kinds of jokes about things you know aren't true," she stated as an idea suddenly flew into her head. She remembered Naruto's pranking scroll quite well, and the gaki just so happened to be on her team now. Her sadistic smile made the ex-ANBU captain pale for a moment before his eye formed into an upside down 'U' again, showing he didn't believe a word she said.

"You've said that before, but I've always managed to get out of anything you've thought up so far," he said casually, flipping the page in his ever-present orange book. That damned hentai.

"Now, now you two," Asuma tried to calm the two down before Kurenai resorted to some rather nasty genjutsu just to test Kakashi's eye, "we have to go meet our teams. Why don't we head over that way?" He began to hesitantly pull Kurenai away since she looked ready to viciously attack whoever or whatever made the wrong move closest to her as Kakashi simply poofed away. Almost immediately, Kurenai's demeanor changed and she began laughing.

"That pervert doesn't know what he's about to get into." She began to cackle like a mad woman, making the surrounding Jounin a little uneasy. Asuma simply lit a second cigarette, completely ignoring the fact that he already had one burning in his mouth and that he was puffing away on two trying to calm down. He may respect the woman, but that didn't mean that she didn't make his skin crawl when she got like this.

XxXxXxXx

Naruto had his head down when he heard a lazy voice speak up behind him.

"Troublesome. Naruto, what are you doing here? This is only for those who graduated." Nara Shikamaru stood next to Naruto as he lifted his head, smiling away and pointing at his forehead.

"I did pass, just not the same exam the rest of you did." The lazy Genin looked at him blankly for a second before sighing and mumbling how troublesome it was to himself. He sat in his own seat as Uchiha Sasuke came in and sat next to Naruto, ignoring the sudden glint in Naruto's eyes or mistaking it for Naruto becoming one of his fan boys. Naruto simply hoped the clone outside could keep Iruka busy long enough. No one noticed the Jounin enter the room under a powerful invisibility genjutsu, or other Jounin set up around the ceiling above the tiles to watch the Genin hopefuls before actually meeting them as their instructors.

A few moments later, most of the students were in the class except for the two girls who were considered the founders of the Uchiha Sasuke Fan club: Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura, who could be heard arguing on their way into the class.

"Out of the way, Forehead Girl!"

"You move, Ino Pig!"

Suddenly, both girls were stuck side-by-side in the doorway, glaring daggers at each other.

"I beat you Ino Pig!"

"Oh, you wish! My toe was in easily a centimeter before yours!" They both pushed forward at the same time only to fall into the room and on top of one another in a position that Inuzuka Kiba called them on.

"Oh, hey ladies! If you want to get to that, let me get a camera first!" Both angered girls looked directly at him, killing intent radiating off of them. He whimpered slightly, just like the puppy resting on his head and quickly backed off to his own seat. The two girls got up and quickly moved towards Sasuke's desk, and incidentally, Naruto's who was sitting right next to him.

"Move Naruto, you're sitting in the seat next to Sasuke!" Sakura had expected a quick movement from the boy that had loudly proclaimed his love for her, but was very surprised when that wasn't how things turned out.

"Say please," he said. Several shocked looks were on Naruto at that point.

"W-what?" Sakura wasn't sure she had heard correctly.

"If you want me to move so you can sit in the seat I was already sitting in, and quite comfortably at that, then you can say please. Otherwise, I think I'll stay." Sasuke, sitting next to Naruto, was silently going wild in his mind. He wouldn't show anything externally, but he really hoped Naruto would just snap and take the two girls down with him.

"You didn't even pass, dead last! So you shouldn't be here! Now move or I'll-"

"You'll do nothing. Should you try to forcibly move me, I'll stop you, and if you don't do anything, you don't get the seat. Therefore, if you want to sit here, you'll ask nicely or sit somewhere else." A second had passed before the silence was broken.

"May I sit there, please?" Sakura turned in shock to look at Ino who had a smug grin on her face, thereby completely missing Naruto's moving out of the seat and sitting Ino in it delicately. A foxy grin at Sakura and a jaunty salute to Sasuke, while 'Iruka' snickered behind his desk, left Naruto moving up to the back of the class to sit next to Hinata, who blushed brightly at the close proximity, which caught the eye of a wild-haired boy with a puppy resting on top of his head.

"Hey Dead-Last! What are you doing here? This is only for people who passed!" Inuzuka Kiba was usually one of Naruto's co-conspirators when it came to breaking out of class and pranks, but he was notoriously known for fixating on women and peeking into the women's bathrooms in hopes of seeing something naughty. The blushing girl next to Naruto found herself the target of his peeking expeditions more often than not, though he'd never found himself successful. The fact that she was widely known for having her own crush on the blonde-haired boy next to her, which Kiba took as an offense. Friendships didn't matter when it came to proving who the alpha was in Kiba's mind, since his family thought as a pack, much like their canine companions.

"Well, Dog-breath," Naruto smiled widely as Kiba fumed, "it just so happens I _did_ pass!" He pointed at the hitai-ate on his forehead as proof.

"Yea, right! Your just pretending to be a ninja so you can feel important! You probably got that thing from a costume shop!" Kiba opened his mouth to continue his tirade when the clone behind the desk currently under a Henge interrupted him and got things going. It wouldn't do to have their prank ruined before it could be completed, after all.

"Alright, you guys! Sit down! I'm calling out the first team!" The person that all of the students save for Naruto and the two who noticed that it was a henge, namely Hinata and Shikamaru who were both waiting to see what would happen along with all of the Jounin. Once everyone was settled, the clone began.

"Team one: Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino..." it paused as the two glared at each other and looked at Sasuke for his reaction and watched as his eyes widened in horror. "And Uchiha Sasuke." The two girls yelled their enjoyment and Sasuke jerked back in fear, his eyes wide and his whole body shaking. He began to sputter incoherently and shake a little harder as it sunk deeper into his mind. Both girls rushed the cringing Uchiha and latched onto either side of him while lightning crackled as they threw glares at each other.

Suddenly, both 'Iruka' and Naruto began laughing. Most of the class, save for the two who smiled knowing what had happened, looked on in curiousity. When the Iruka at the desk poofed and turned into Naruto, the class looked in on shock until the real Naruto spoke up.

"Oi, you lost your concentration!" The clone looked at him in happiness.

"Well, that was funny! I mean, did you _see_ the look on his face when he thought he'd be stuck with both of them!" They both laughed again before Sakura voiced the question on everyone's mind.

"Naruto! What the hell is that!" Naruto took a second to wipe the tear from his eye before speaking.

"Well, I can't do the normal Bunshin jutsu because I can't use that little chakra on a technique. I mean, I still haven't even been able to get water walking right," all of the Jounin were surprised that Naruto even knew of the technique, much less had been practicing it, "so I got a better technique. Its the same as the Bunshin no jutsu, but the clone is a physical copy and can perform his own jutsu and think for himself, called a Kage Bunshin. Also, the best part about it is-" Naruto was interrupted by Iruka coming into the room with a Naruto dragging behind him, still attached to his legs where he was attempting to stall Iruka a little longer.

"Iruka-sensei! You can't go in yet! They- Oh... hello everyone." The Naruto clone offered a sheepish laugh before disappearing in smoke.

"Naruto!" Iruka wasn't overly happy. He hadn't thought to bop Naruto on the head. Naruto was oblivious to Iruka's obvious anger and replied as though Iruka had simply greeted him.

"Hey Iruka-sensei! Have a good morning so far?" Iruka glared at Naruto, unsure of what Naruto had pulled before he showed up. Warily, he checked his clipboard and the desk before leaning against it and beginning his explanations to teams.

"Alright. First thing's first. Team assignments were a little odd this year, so listen up! Team One!" Naruto looked around while the students he listed off were paired and assigned. He only began paying attention when Iruka mentioned his rival, who was still glaring at him in anger.

"Team Seven: Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba and Uchiha Sasuke. Team Eight: Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto! Team Nine is still active from last year, so team Ten is Akamichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino!" Iruka began to explain the duties of a Genin and what would be expected of them and their teams. Naruto tried to pay attention, he really did, but found the speech to be excessively droll and boring. Instead, he looked over to his teammates. Shino was simply sitting still and quiet, showing no reaction while Hinata appeared to be almost... giddy? He narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to figure that out as he looked forward. Deciding to try and figure it out later, he began flashing through the handseals needed for the summoning technique under his desk so no one could see them, completely unaware of the genjutsu mistress who was watching him curiously. She'd seen those handseals before, but couldn't recall where or what they did.

"Alright you lot! You get one hour for lunch today and then you'll come back here to meet your Jounin instructors!" Iruka watched as everyone filed out, waiting for the Jounin to come in to talk to him.

XxXxXxXx

As each Jounin filed into the room, save for one that he really wasn't expecting, Iruka sat at his desk and got them all started. "Alright, so what did you guys think so far?"

"I'm glad Naruto isn't on my team! Those pranks would kill me after not too long!" One of the Jounin from nearest the door laughed as he considered it, along with several others.

"That reminds me, did he do anything to my desk or anything? I can never tell unless its something he leaves for me to notice so I don't see the real trap, usually," Iruka mumbled, eyeing his desk warily again.

"No, Iruka. He simply used a Kage Bunshin, used a Henge to look like yourself and scared the life out of the Uchiha, making him think he would be paired up with his two loudest fangirls." Kurenai had to hand it to the man, he wasn't above laughing at the misfortune of his own students. The Jounin sweat dropped as Iruka laughed heartily at the sight in his head.

"I should have expected something from him, but I didn't think he'd already be putting it to use for pranking!" Kurenai decided to get the ball rolling and asked if there had been any last minute changes in her charges before leaving, ignoring the looks from the other Jounin as they hadn't already thought to come ahead of time and ask him their questions. She had some payback to schedule.

XxXxXxXx

Naruto walked up to Shino, his closest teammate to introduce himself properly. "Hey there! I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" He held out his hand to shake Shino's, getting a raised eyebrow for only a moment before Shino shook his hand back, a little shocked when Naruto began pumping it furiously. "I was thinking we could get Hinata and go get some ramen for a quick lunch. We could be back in time for the bell." Naruto was a little worried when Shino didn't say anything, but was appeased by his nod. The two only had to go a few steps to meet up with Hinata, who looked as though she were debating with herself about something.

"Hey Hinata! Shino and I were going to go to Ichiraku's for some ramen. Do you want to come with us? My treat!"

"Y-yes, Naruto-kun. I w-would like that." The three speedily made their way to Ichiraku's going over rooftop to save time. Naruto was determined to use this time to get to know his teammates a little better. Arriving, Teuchi was surprised to see Naruto with the girl from two days before and a new boy when they should have been in school.

"Hey, Naruto! I see you and your friend are back, but who's your other friend?" Naruto sat in his usual stood with Shino and Hinata on either side of him on the small counter top stools.

"Well, you already know Hinata from the day before yesterday, but this is Aburame Shino! He's the second teammate I told you about before!" Naruto didn't notice the raised eyebrow Shino had when Naruto unwittingly admitted to knowing who his teammates were going to be two days before they were announced. Which also happened to be the first day of team placement deliberations for the passing Genin.

"Ah! I see! Well, any friend of Naruto's is a friend of ours! Especially if they like ramen! Haha!" Ayame came from the kitchen area and whacked her father with a towel eliciting a girlish scream from the man.

"Oh, really," she admonished, sounding familiar with the routine. "Now, Naruto-kun, what would you and your friends like? Remember, you can only go two bowls to still make it back on time." A pout from Naruto was her first answer. A hidden glare from Hinata was her second.

"Two teriyaki for me, please. What do you two want," he asked, looking at both.

"Ano.. one t-teriyaki, please." Ayame didn't bother writing them down as she turned to Shino for his order. Years of getting multiple orders from Naruto at one time gave her an incredible memory.

"One pork ramen, please and thank you." Ayame smiled at Shino's manners as both she and her father went back to make their orders. Naruto wasn't totally sure what to talk about with his new teammates, so he decided to start with what he hoped were safe topics.

"So, what do you guys plan to specialize in? Anything in particular?" A few seconds of silence looking between both of them were interrupted by Shino, who decided he would answer as Hinata seemed to be waiting for him to.

"My specialty lies in my clan's techniques with our allies, or our Kikaichu bugs. With them, we perform certain ninjutsu and genjutsu." Naruto looked at him curiously.

"Can I see one of them?" A little surprised, Shino held out his hand, waiting to see Naruto's reaction. When he let one of the bugs go onto Naruto's hand, he watched idly as Naruto brought it up close to his eyes and looked at it in apparent interest.

"Cool. So you can control them?"

"Yes." Shino was still rather surprised by Naruto's actions, but was greatly relieved he didn't find him disgusting. No matter how apathetic the Aburame may appear, it was only thanks to learning to control their emotions so they didn't lose control of the hives held within their bodies. Being ridiculed for years in the Academy for who he simply was made him hesitant to interact with anyone else, though that didn't seem to matter so much to Naruto. Naruto handed the bug back to Shino and then faced Hinata, not noticing the bug go back under Shino's skin.

"What about you Hinata? What do you wan to specialize in?" Hinata blushed lightly as Ayame brought out the bowls of delicious ramen goodness and set them in front of everyone, getting polite thank you's as she did so.

"Um. I w-want to be a med-nin and master my clan's taijutsu st-style." Naruto nodded his head as though it were the most sensible thing in the world.

"Well, the way I train, I'll probably become your practice body!" Naruto grinned widely as Hinata flushed at the way Naruto made it sound. He then dug into his noodles with gusto.

"W-what about you, Naruto-kun?" Naruto slurped the noodle in his mouth happily, until the end came up and thwacked him in the forehead, before replying.

"Ninjutsu, definitely. I just have too much chakra to use genjutsu properly and no one would ever practice taijutsu with me, so I never really fought against others to learn it properly." While Hinata could certainly believe Naruto's statement from having seen his chakra pathways, Shino was a little surprised at the allegation.

_'Surely he meant a lack of control for most genjutsu, right?'_ Shino was sure that his team was going to be anything but dull. His allies were telling him that Hinata was _highly_ attracted to Naruto, as she released a near constant amount of pheromones while around him, and that Naruto had immense chakra reserves, which supported his genjutsu statement. They also told him that his chakra was '_different_' than usual chakra. They didn't explain it in any other way, and couldn't when he asked, but they were adamant about it. The three continued to eat and talk, primarily of the Genin exams and their views on them and each others' fights until each was done and left for the school grounds early, just to be sure to have enough time.

XxXxXxXx

Team Eight had been in the classroom when the bell sounded, already waiting for their Jounin, who had actually been watching them the entire time they were at Ichiraku's. She had wanted to know what they would do now that they knew who their teammates were and was a little surprised when Naruto had mentioned that he'd already known, since he had apparently told the ramen chef early. Earlier, in fact, than when the teams were even created. When they left, she had asked him when Naruto told him and, after a large amount of suspicious resistance as the old man and his daughter seemed very defensive towards the boy, found that it was the day after everyone had passed. She wasn't sure how he would have known, or if maybe his knowing was somehow related to the Sandaime's changing the teams that Iruka had already prepared. Regardless, it was an interesting bit of information.

When Kurenai went into the classroom with all of the other Jounin instructors, save for one chronically tardy one, all of the passing Genin were in the classroom and Iruka quieted the class down.

"Alright! Now, here are your Jounin instructors, they will call you by team number. Follow them and good luck!" Iruka sat as the Jounin began calling their students from their team assignments. When her turn came, Kurenai stepped forward and called them, watching as they stood from their location together and followed her out of the room.

XxXxXxXx

Team Eight followed their new Jounin sensei out of the Academy and out towards the Academy training grounds where they practiced their weapon throwing and accuracy. When they were all situated under the shade of a large tree, Kurenai began.

"Alright. Let's get this started with the basics. I'll introduce myself to show you how I want you to do so, and then we'll begin. My name is Yuuhi Kurenai. I've been a Jounin for a little over four months now, since the last Jounin exams. I had been a Chuunin for the nine years before that. My specialty is genjutsu. My likes are creating new genjutsu, green tea, beating the hell out of perverts," she watched the two boys' faces to see if either of them cringed, and was pleased to see that they didn't, though Naruto appeared to smile as though he agreed, even though he created the infamous 'Orioke no jutsu', "and practice with my kunai which I use on aforementioned perverts," she was inwardly very pleased as Naruto blanched while he covered up his nether regions and Shino shifted uncomfortably. "My dislikes are perverts, men who dodge my kunai," she almost laughed as Naruto began to go from pale to green, "men who believe women can't be every bit as good as a man can be, and those who think of themselves over others. My hobbies are sharpening kunai," she almost laughed as Naruto's eyes began to bug out of his head and cross. God she was loving this, "reading and researching genjutsu and sweet kabobs. My dreams for the future are to become one of the greatest kunoichi of my generation and one day have a daughter," she looked at Hinata with a soft smile who smiled slightly back. "Alright, now you tell me your names, likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future." She pointed at Shino.

"Aburame Shino. I like researching new bugs and insects as well as work with my family's allies. I dislike those who kill insects for no reason and who judge people without reason or foreknowledge. My hobbies are breeding better versions of my family's Kikaichu bugs and others. My dream for the future is to be a strong and able clan head." The monotone was expected from an Aburame, but he seemed to speak as little as possible for each sentence.

"Alright, now you, please." She indicated Hinata who was furiously pushing her fingertips together.

"Ano.. I am Hyuuga Hinata. I l-like making medicinal salves and p-pressing flowers and," she quickly looked to Naruto and then back to the ground before anyone other than Kurenai could notice, "I d-dislike those who judge people before they g-get to know them and th-ose who hurt others for no reason. My hobbies are training and c-cooking. My dream is to be a gr-great clan head." Kurenai nodded, already knowing all of those things. She did, however, notice that Hinata would look at Naruto out of the corner of her eye every few moments and hoped it wouldn't cause a problem. She knew how emotions could cloud a person's judgement and hinder a kunoichi's abilities.

_'Maybe he can help her get over her stuttering and confidence problem, though. I'll have to get to know him a little better before I let them get too close, however. But if he's really the way Iruka describes him, maybe I can help it out.'_ She smiled inwardly as she thought of ways the two could help each other out. He had way too much confidence and was far too loud while Hinata needed both of those things, in moderation, of course. _'If he's a pervert though...'_ Her thoughts suddenly turned much darker.

"Alright, Blondie, now you." Naruto straightened up and poked himself in the chest with his thumb, not paying attention to Kurenai's slightly darker voice as she still had thoughts of him being a pervert in her mind..

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! My likes are ramen, trying different kinds of ramen, training, learning my father's jutsu, and my new teammates! My dislikes are waiting for the three minutes for ramen to cook, when I run out of ramen and have to wait to go buy more," Kurenai was _really_ beginning to see a trend here, "people who judge others for things they can't control," she almost frowned as Naruto's face fell before going back to his happy-go-lucky self, "and bastards who think they are better than others simply because of who their families are like Sasuke-teme! My hobbies are training, learning new jutsu, pranking Ji-san while he's in his office and pranks in general really, as they're great training, and making new friends! My dreams for the future are to be better than my father and learn all his jutsu and be the greatest Kage ever from all the shinobi lands!" Kurenai let herself smile at the group, happy with their responses.

_'What an interesting way for him to have turned out. I wonder why he wants to be Hokage, though.'_ It really was an interesting dream for him to have.

"Alright, you have very ambitious and honorable desires and dreams. If you work hard, you should each be able to obtain them." Shino appeared to still be stoic while Hinata sat just a touch straighter. She was a little confused by Naruto's sudden change from happy to looking at her as though examining her before he smiled like normal. She simply ignored it as a question suddenly popped into her head.

"Naruto, you mentioned your father a few times. I didn't think anyone knew who he was. Were you able to find out?" She was a little confused as he stopped all movement suddenly before looking at her dead in the eye.

"Yes."

"Well, who was he? I may have known him." She was thinking about possibly telling him something if she did indeed know him, but she was curious as to why he seemed undecided and hesitant to speak, almost scared even.

"Well, I plan on telling all of you guys who my father is, and my other secret," he said while holding his stomach, shocking her a little at what it implied, "but I want us all to get to know each other and learn to trust each other first." She looked at the other two of Team Eight, who appeared a little confused, even Shino, before looking back at Naruto.

"I see. Well, we should all learn to trust each other. After all, being a part of a team is learning to do just that and working together and covering each other's backs. Now," she said, straightening up, "we will begin the introduction portion of this whole thing. Tomorrow, we are going to have our first mission." She watched as each one became focused solely on her.

"We were originally going to do it today, but I decided to change our mission last minute," she trailed off a little as she thought about how she was going to get back at Kakashi, "so we'll get it done tomorrow. You will meet at training ground eight at nine in the morning. I'll give you your mission profile then. Come prepared with everything you've got, you'll need it," she finished, speaking solemnly.

"Ano.. Kurenai-sensei. W-what kind of mission are we going on?" Kurenai thought for a moment over Hinata's question before replying as honestly as she could without giving too much away. The truth of the matter was that she hadn't fully thought out what she wanted, though she knew what the end result was to be.

"In truth, it would have originally been a survival exercise. You see, only three teams, nine of the whole graduating class from the Academy, will become Genin." She watched as each of them looked shocked and gave them a moment to let the information settle. "However, I am going to give you a different mission. One that, were it to be a real mission, would be classified as C-rank, if not B-rank in nature." Their eyes widened even more at hearing this while Naruto appeared to nearly vibrate with excitement while bouncing in place. She didn't think she wanted to know how he would react if he found out it was only because Kakashi was a highly skilled ninja and loved his book with a frightening passion.

"Because of the nature of the test, I have to wait until tomorrow, as if it were a sudden and important mission, to give you the details. You needn't worry though, there is almost no chance of dieing. I'll be watching over you the whole time, making it safe." She waited for any last-minute questions before continuing.

"I suggest eating well tonight, and something relatively light tomorrow morning, at least an hour in advance. You'll be getting a severe workout with your mission. I can at least give you that much. That's all, for now. Go home and rest, train, do whatever you want, just do _not_ do anything that can impede you tomorrow. You'll need everything you've got. Remember, training ground eight, nine o'clock." With that, she shunshin'd away, just far enough not to be detected and watched them to see what they would do.

"Well guys," Naruto began, "I think I'm going to go train some more. I've got some things I'm working on and we still have a lot of daylight left. Either of you want to join me?" Only Kurenai saw that he was really hoping that they would.

"I cannot. My clan requested that I return as soon as our meeting with Kurenai-sensei was over to discuss my team, Jounin instructor and initial views." To the point, and direct. Kurenai would have to admit, he was probably going to be the best at delivering their mission reports.

"Oh, alright. How about you, Hinata?"

"I-I can't." She began to look truly distressed. "M-my father w-wants me home a-as well." Naruto smiled at them both while scratching the back of his head.

"Alright! Well, see you guys tomorrow, and let's make sure we're three of those nine who pass!" With final goodbyes given, Kurenai watched as the other two left and Naruto looked a little sad before running off to his favourite training ground, unaware of his shadow tailing him from the tree line. Kurenai had received a report from Iruka detailing Naruto's sharper than normal eyes and ears, so she made sure to use one of her more powerful invisibility genjutsu. Thankfully, his nose wasn't as good as an Inuzuka's, though she made it a point to stay downwind just in case. After about a minute of running, Naruto broke the silence, spooking Kurenai into thinking she'd been found.

"So, Ryoku, what do you think of our new team and Kurenai-sensei?" Kurenai was a little worried when Naruto began a one-sided conversation. Not because he was speaking out loud, but because he was doing so when he thought he was alone and not to himself, which left only one being he could be speaking to. "Yea, I know we can trust Hinata with you and Dad, but Shino is still only a possibility. Kurenai-sensei already knows, so I doubt she'll freak out or anything." She listened intently as he paused, as if listening to someone, or some_thing_.

"Shut up you damn fuzzball! She seems nice so far, so I don't think we need to pull any pranks on her right now." Kurenai kept her anger in check when she realized just _who_ that 'fuzzball' was and who it wanted to prank. Sadly, it wasn't enough to keep the Kyuubi from recognizing it. Naruto stopped and just stood there.

"You can come out now, Kurenai-sensei." Knowing she was busted, she went ahead and dropped her genjutsu and jumped in front of Naruto, far enough away to respond, she hoped, to any aggressive actions, but not so far away as to appear to be worried about it.

"So you found me out." She was actually impressed enough to let it show in her voice.

"Something like that." Naruto was watching her for any sign of attack. He knew that he would have to rely on the Kyuubi if she attacked, and he could only guess at the repercussions that would cause. Kurenai, thankfully, wasn't oblivious to his thoughts.

"To answer the question you have probably got running through your mind is that I was still there after I shunshin'd away, watching to see what you guys would do. Since the other two were going home, and you to train, I decided to follow you to see how you train. I _do_ have to know these things. It'll also help knowing how to set up training schedules if you three pass." She could tell he believed it, but wasn't sure if that was the only reason.

"How about this. I can tell that you aren't too sure about me yet, and I can certainly understand that. You're probably curious about me, just as I'm curious about you, since we've never spoken. How about we play question and answer. All it is is that one of us asks a question and the other answers it. You don't _have_ to answer, just give a reason as to why you don't and that substitutes the answer, however, all answers must be truthful. And of course, you don't have to answer in full the whole time if there is a part of something you don't want to answer for whatever reason. Take the issue about your father as the example, since you've already said you want to tell us later. You can stop at any time and this allows us a chance to get to know about each other. You can even get first question. Does that sound okay?" Naruto thought about it for a minute before nodding. He motioned for her to continue along with him.

"I'd prefer to do this in the training spot I was heading towards anyway. My usual training method, now that I'm capable of it, is to use several Kage Bunshin to multiply my training. It won't work for physical things, like taijutsu, unless learning forms, but I still have to actually do the work or it becomes useless. It works great, though, for learning jutsu, chakra control and reading scrolls." Kurenai didn't really think exhausting himself with Kage Bunshin was a good way to train, but decided that she would tell him that after seeing exactly what he did, so she only nodded in response.

When they arrived in the clearing in the woods, she looked around in appreciation. It wasn't a large clearing, but large enough to support thirty people comfortably with a large pond in it's center, fed by an underground stream that came a small river in the neighboring training ground. She could see a line of scratch marks on one of the trees, showing that someone had been learning tree climbing.

"Were you the one learning tree climbing over there?" she asked, pointing towards the tree she had noticed.

"Yea, but I can't get that damned water walking exercise right." Kurenai was impressed that he even knew about those exercises, much less had been working on them. It only confirmed what he'd said in the classroom earlier that day. The other two of his team would definitely have received at least the tree-walking exercise knowledge from their families, so it was good that he was advancing on his own in that regard. She sat where he indicated, which was the only available spot aside from the ground.

_'Well, at least he's a gentleman,'_ she thought. Naruto walked towards the pond and put his hands into a cross shape and yelled out his now favourite technique.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Kurenai's view of everything was obscured as she was surrounded by puffs of smoke. When it cleared, she blinked the water from her eyes the smoke had caused and then stared, mouth wide open as everywhere she looked was filled with a Naruto clone. A flesh and blood Naruto clone. "Alright! You guys know what to work on! You hundred, work on water walking, you hundred, Dad's technique, you fifty work on the that Bousekinoko technique and you fifty, work on that water technique in the other training ground. It'll be too loud here!" After all the clones received their orders, they took off, leaving Kurenai still impressed that Naruto didn't even seem to be winded from having created three hundred clones of himself.

"Alright, Kurenai-sensei. First question: do you hate me for what I carry?" Kurenai was brought back when he asked his question, looking directly at her and not blinking.

"No. I hate the Kyuubi for all the ones that died during his attack, but not you for carrying it." She mentally let out a breath of relief as he nodded in acceptance. "Were you talking to Kyuubi on your way up here?"

"Yes. His true name is Ryoku, and that is how I will reference him while around the others until I let them know about him, and how I would like for you to do so as well. It allows it to be much easier without letting out the secret because he helps me a little, like with the tree climbing and water walking since its his chakra that screws me up so badly." Kurenai took all of it in, though a little surprised at what she was hearing. She decided to continue and think over everything he explained later while she has plenty of time. "Is your test tomorrow in any way an attempt to have me killed or attacked because of the Kyuubi?" Kurenai's eyes widened at the insinuation.

"No! That had nothing to do with my planning of the test in any way." She wasn't sure if she should be upset at the question or sorry he had to ask it. "You mentioned that the Kyuubi, or Ryoku," he nodded to show she was correct with Kyuubi's name, "helps you with chakra control and such. Does he try to talk you into giving him control? Or does he ask you to do anything risky?"

"That's actually two questions, but I'll answer them both as they're relatively similar. I can, and have always been able to, release Ryoku at will," he ignored her suddenly pale face and widened eyes. "If I release him willingly, then he lives while I die and if he breaks free of the seal on his own, then we both die. Because of the nature of the seal, I can actually release the seal up to a little over two minutes after my death." He ignored Kurenai's paling face, though he was a little surprised it could get whiter.

"As for him having control, he can't exist in my body unless I give it to him, and even then, he has to remain partially in the seal since he can't exist solely in my body. Its too much power for my human body right now, which is why he can't take me over without both of us dieing. So, if he takes control, which he can't do right now because it would be bad for us both unless its an emergency because it would deteriorate my body gradually, I can take control back at any time, unless I gave him control and allowed myself to die. I don't want to die any time soon, so you have nothing to worry about." Kurenai's mind was nearly fried with that information, but she was able to get the basics. Kyuubi could take temporary control, but wouldn't as it would cause too many problems, and Naruto can take control back at any time unless he killed himself somehow to where Kyuubi could keep his body. It was more the fact that he could release the Kyuubi at all, especially when taking into account that she knew the villagers had attempted to take his life in the past. If they had succeeded, and he really could release the seal up to two minutes after dieing... even if only out of spite, he could allow Konoha to be destroyed.

"O-okay." Naruto smiled slightly at her as Kyuubi laughed outright at her expression. He was loving this, the sadistic bastard. Apparently, messing with Naruto's mind was simply too easy as he had a home field advantage.

"Are you worried I will turn Kyuubi on you and the team?" Kurenai could tell he was watching her intently again.

"I am still a little worried about that, as I can't be fully assured that Kyu-Ryoku," she amended, "can't take full control aside from your word." She could see he didn't like how she had phrased that, so she quickly continued. "But I'm far less worried about it than before. There is, after all, no point in doubting you at the onset of our team's formation." She was happy to tell that he was calmed by her last words.

"I suppose that was all I really wanted to know for now aside from one last question." She continued when he gave her an expectant expression. "How much of your over all chakra did making three hundred shadow clones use? I mean, it is considered a forbidden jutsu because it splits your chakra evenly amongst however many clones you create unless you specifically make them with a certain amount in mind."

"I split it evenly to all of them. I can do it with different amounts, but I didn't see any reason. Ryoku can fill my reserves back up within a few minutes, but I also used a little of his chakra in the mix since I could make more and get them closest to my own chakra levels. I'm already almost at half my normal reserves." Kurenai simply shook her head and smiled.

"Alright, thank you. You've answered all my questions and we've each asked the same amount. Do you have any last ones?"

"Nope. I only really had two that I worried about and you answered them." She nodded and said her goodbyes, with a reminder to show up at nine the next day and not to wear himself out. After she was gone, Naruto spent a few minutes going over her responses and actions with Ryoku, both happy with what they had seen and the answers they had received.

Oddly, it wasn't until later that night that Kurenai realized that Naruto could probably have asked Kyuubi why he had attacked Konoha. She decided that she would talk with the Hokage about it if her team passed, which was most likely as it wasn't normally looked highly upon for a team with several prominent heirs to fail.

XxXxXxXx

**Author's Note** Okay. From here, the story will really start now. All of the basic information and initial phases of the story are begun, so we get to the action (yes, there will actually be fighting and action in the next chapter and beyond) and main plot line. These first two chapters were only to get everything begun and such. I'm sorry it took 27 thousand words to do so. Long chapters are just my style, and I didn't want to begin the story by rushing.

For those who are curious, Naruto's "adapting" starts next chapter as well. For more information on that, check the "About" chapter (number two, even though this is chapter two, it was posted in second place.)

Quick side-note to those who are curious about the mission being labeled as an S-rank rather than A-rank or even B-rank is thus: Firstly, no one would have noticed the scroll as being gone for a long time, allowing many people to learn the jutsu on the scroll. Secondly, it was Naruto, and the old man increased it by adding whatever he could to it knowing how much the money could help Naruto, including the rescue of Iruka and exposing a weakness in the Hokage Tower's defenses along with remaining hidden from the searching Chuunin, Jounin and ANBU. Third, Naruto exposed Mizuki as a traitor who had a whole slew of information on Konoha and it's defenses and lastly, it was partly in learning what was done to him as a child. The Sandaime thought it a small penance to pay for everything and it would look good on his file – Also, it is to play a minor part later in the story for fun. :P Aren't I terrible? No? Well that sucks...

For any questions or comments, please leave them in a review or PM me if you would prefer it.


	3. Make a Move and the Book Gets It!

Adaptation

Chapter3- Make a Move and the Book Gets It!

Ship: Naruto/Hinata

Author: Paladeus

Key: "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

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**Author's Note:** - Questions this chapter may bring up are answered at the end. G'bye.

**Challenges:** On my profile is a link to my FF (DOT) Net Forums. On those forums are challenge requests by me to you in the Naruto and Harry Potter universes. I'd greatly appreciate any views on those challenges or anyone who would like to accept them, feel free to let me know. I'd personally like to know if anyone finds them as decent plot devices or not. If you do accept a challenge, feel free to reply to the forum and let others know, preferably after you've posted the first chapter so they have something to visit and you can link to it.

**Recommended Story of the Chapter: ** "A Few Angry Words" by Lord of the Land of Fire

xXxXxXx

Previously:

"_Alright, thank you. You've answered all my questions and we've each asked the same amount. Do you have any last ones?"_

"_Nope. I only really had two that I worried about and you answered them." She nodded and said her goodbyes, with a reminder to show up at nine the next day and not to wear himself out. After she was gone, Naruto spent a few minutes going over her responses and actions with Ryoku, both happy with what they had seen and the answers they had received. _

_Oddly, it wasn't until later that night that Kurenai realized that Naruto could probably have asked Kyuubi why he had attacked Konoha. She decided that she would talk with the Hokage about it if her team passed, which was most likely as it wasn't normally looked highly upon for a team with several prominent heirs to fail._

xXxXxXx

Shino walked into his clan house, leaving his sandals by the entryway and walked into the living area where his parents were waiting for him.

"Welcome home, Shino. Did you have a good day?" Shino's mother, Ami, poured him a cup of tea and set it on the table in front of where Shino sat a moment later.

"Yes, Mom. Thank you." He sipped his tea and waited for his father's question. It wasn't normally so formal between them, but both of his parents were excited about his new Genin assignment. It, like the hives within their bodies, was considered a right of passage amongst the Aburame and not to be taken lightly.

"Who is on your Genin team and your instructor?" Shibi's voice rumbled slightly as he spoke, his own cup of steaming tea in his hands.

"On my team are Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto," almost as if believing he couldn't sense it himself, Shino's allies told him his parents suddenly became very nervous. "Our instructor is Yuuhi Kurenai." Shino narrowed his eyes slightly as his parents exchanged worried glances.

"What are your first impressions of them?" Shino noticed his mother sat back slightly, acknowledging his father's desire to converse with him and not interfere. Shibi's question seemed normal enough, but his tone suggested otherwise.

"Of Hyuuga Hinata, I would have to say she was unremarkable. Her taijutsu was par with the rest of the Kunoichi of our class and her knowledge equally average. Her self confidence is severely lacking and she is still quiet and shy as she was then. However," he cocked his head to the side as he reviewed his earlier thoughts of his team, "she has pure ambitions and good aspirations to better herself." He set his cup down and faced his parents equally. "It would seem, however, that she has held back, whether it be consciously or unconsciously during her tenure at the Academy. Naruto has made mention of seeing her hold back during the Genin Selection Exam taijutsu matches." He paused to allow the information to process. He hadn't personally paid attention during the Genin exams, but had decided to take Naruto's word for it when he mentioned it at lunch.

"Of Uzumaki Naruto," he paused and frowned, trying to determine how best to phrase his answer. His allies also told him that they grew slightly more nervous, "of Naruto-san, I knew him only in his pranks and hearing the whispers of the villagers. My allies always told me that he radiated sorrow, sadness and immense power, but I always saw him smiling and doing whatever he seemed to enjoy. His knowledge was, in theory, nonexistent and his taijutsu skill abysmal at best. He was unable to perform the bunshin or any genjutsu because, in his own words, he had too much chakra to properly perform those jutsu." He paused again, letting that information process before continuing.

"His skills after graduation are more of a mystery than he is at this point," Shino stated. "He has a taijutsu form that he said he created that he showed during the exam. Also, he knows the Kage Bunshin technique and is capable of creating several hundred of these clones comfortably. He actually seems to be far more knowledgeable than his time at the Academy has shown." Shino watched as his parents exchanged looks once again.

"If there is something in particular you wish to know about Uzumaki-san, I would prefer you ask it directly." Shino didn't really mean to, but a hint of anger had escaped with his voice. Naruto had proven to be a potential friend, human friend, that was not likely to think less of him for his family's lifestyle. He found himself strangely defensive of his new teammate, but decided to speculate as to why later.

Ami looked at her son with relatively wide eyes for an Aburame while Shibi simply sighed. "Son, there are things we are not permitted to speak about or reference to when speaking of Uzumaki-san. However, since he is on your team, we must ask questions to ascertain certain knowledge to understand truth from untruth. So we ask this once, and also ask that you ask no questions about it. What are your views of Uzumaki Naruto as a person?" Shino wasn't really sure what to say. He hadn't expected something of that nature from his father, but the way his parents were acting proved that his answer was greatly important.

"Is this in reference to Naruto's secrets?" Shino's Kikaichu suddenly went wild with the myriad of emotions they felt from both of his parents. Their own personal hives didn't seem to fair any better as loud buzzing could be heard in the room for a few seconds before they regained control.

"Has he told you his secret?" His mother asked, nowhere near the apathetic nature of the Aburame. Shino's eyes were fully wide in his own shock at his parents' attitudes.

"No," he said, recognizing the heightened emotions falling very quickly to normal levels, "but he has stated that he wishes to tell the entire team his 'secret' after we can learn to trust each other along with whoever his father is." Suddenly, emotions began to spike again, this time, mostly shock with just a little confusion.

"His father?" Ami asked, looking at Shibi. "His child and Kushina's?"

"It could be. It would make sense if Naruto were his son..." Shibi trailed off in thought. "We will discuss it later. For now, I would ask that you observe him and make your own views and opinions. We trust you and your judgement, Shino." Shino, completely confused, but realizing that some rather important information had just passed by him and he wasn't privy to it, merely nodded his head.

xXxXxXx

Hinata had a large grin on her face the entire way to the Hyuuga estate. She couldn't believe her luck. _'I'm on the same team as Naruto-kun!'_ She absentmindedly performed a pirouette around a few children who were running in the street.

_'This will give us lots of time to spend together! We can train together, work together, advance together,'_ she side-stepped an older man who seemed to have a large mass of white hair with little red triangles on his cheeks, similar to an Inuzuka's, who was being chased by two very angry women yelling for his blood... and their undergarments.

_'But,'_ her smile faded into a frown, _'what if I make us fail a bunch of missions or do something wrong while training? Then he won't want to work together!'_ She bumped into a teenaged girl and apologized quietly as she continued. She tried to think of ways to train where she wasn't likely to fail as she continued her path home. Recognizing the familiar wall beside her, she shook her head from side to side as if to clear her thoughts before the guards at the gate saw her.

"Hello, Hinata-sama," the two branch members at the gate smiled and waved at Hinata as she passed. Hinata was a favourite amongst nearly all of the branch members as she was one of only a very few who had never once used their cursed seal to cause them pain or to show them their place aside from the once that she was taught how, and she'd apologize profusely afterwards. She was always kind to them all and helped them if she ever saw them struggling with anything, even menial labor, which greatly increased the respect of most of them as she had grown.

"H-hello, Rein-kun, Jin-kun." She smiled and waved back at them, yet another thing that many of them appreciated from her. It was simply another thing they respected her for. She greeted them back as equals rather than servants, no matter how they knew she was taught to treat them as. The only exceptions were around other Main branch members who may punish either her or them for lack of proper respect.

"Did you get a good team today, Hinata-sama?" Her bright smile and slight blush indicated she was _very_ happy with her team.

"I do believe that she is happy with her team, Rein-san." Jin began their usual banter.

"Quite right, Jin-san." Rein continued.

"But we shouldn't keep her waiting."

"Oh no, we mustn't." Hinata greatly enjoyed talking with the two of them, but when they got together, it was a lot like watching a game where a little ball gets batted back and forth as they spoke. But it always amused her, even when she was younger.

"Quite right!" Jin turned his attention fully to Hinata with a pleasant smile still in place. "Your father would like to see you as early as possible, please, Hinata-sama. We believe he is interested in your new team."

"He is currently within his private study."

"Thank you." Hinata quickly moved through the courtyard into the main household. From there, she went directly to her father's study. Once she knocked on the door, she counted out the usual ten seconds before his voice responded.

"Enter." She mentally sighed in relief that he didn't sound angry, merely bored. She entered, closing the door behind her and then sat on the pillow in front of his desk, waiting for him to begin. He surprised her by doing so almost immediately, as he normally took several moments to finish, or at least pretend to finish, something that he would have had on his desk.

"I w-was told you wished t-to speak with me as soon as possible, Father." Hinata looked towards the ground, where she normally looked when speaking with her father. She wasn't always sure where their relationship was. Sometimes, he was what she believed a father should be; loving, kind and caring, but then there were times where he was strict, hard and simply mean to her, with no discernible pattern to suggest which he would be.

"Correct. Who are your teammates and Jounin instructor," he asked.

"M-my Jounin ins-structor is Yuuhi Kurenai. My teammates are Aburame Shino and ... Uzumaki Naruto." Hiashi made no outward appearance of his suddenly swift thinking. He knew Kurenai would be good for Hinata as an instructor, as she already cared deeply for Hinata. She would probably be able to help Hinata gain the self confidence he had regrettably taken from her.

The Aburame boy was from a respectable clan, even if greatly misunderstood. There would be no harm in her association with him. As far as Hiashi was aware, the boy had never caused any form of trouble. And hearing nothing was good. If he hadn't heard anything, then there wasn't anything to worry about for his clan's image. The Uzumaki boy, however...

"Tell me of your team. I know Yuuhi-san, so you needn't worry with her. But tell me of your two teammates. What are your impressions of them?" He noticed the light blush that came over her cheeks, but thought nothing of it.

"Th-they are both very s-strong. Shino works with Kikaichu bugs and is very quiet. I d-don't know m-much about him yet." He watched as she suddenly began to blush more deeply and began to furiously push her index fingers together. Hiashi raised an eyebrow as he knew it to be a habit of hers for when she was nervous.

"N-N-Naruto-kun," Hiashi's mental eyebrow just skyrocketed at the term of familiarity, "is v-very s-strong and pow-powerful. He b-bought Shino and I l-lunch since we had extra time t-today so we could g-get to know one another." Hiashi was wondering why her stuttering had become so much worse while speaking of the Uzumaki boy, and had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as to it's cause. "N-Naruto-kun is also-"

"Hinata," Hiashi berated himself for what he'd turned his eldest daughter in to as she cringed at his voice, even though he'd attempted to keep it as light as possible without speaking in baby-talk, "I would like to meet your teammates so I can make my own decision on them." He purposefully made himself look thoughtful, an old tactic to buy one's self a little time while speaking. It also made him appear less hostile towards whoever he was speaking with.

"I know Kurenai-san, and I know of the Aburame, but Uzumaki-san is unknown to me other than what I have heard. Much of it, as you can probably assume, is not kind. Most notably would be his pranks and disrespect for nearly everyone in the village. I know a little truth about the boy and his past, but much of it is rumor. This will allow me to have my own views of them." Hiashi was a bit surprised when she had actually met his gaze while speaking of Naruto disrespecting others, but passed it off since it was only an instant. Even if it was an instant longer than she had looked into his eyes in the past few years. "I have only one question left. Since, as I said, I know of the Aburame clan, and that Shino has been groomed to hold his clan's honor, I have no worries over his character. But would you say that Uzumaki-san is a good person?" His father instincts kicked in as a heavy blush permeated her cheeks all the way down to her neck, though he made very, _very_ sure to not make any outward reactions.

"Yes." It was delivered quietly, but with more conviction and no hint of stuttering than he had seen from Hinata in a long time. He frowned for only a moment as he remembered the blush, as it was still very apparent on her neck and face, before remembering, instead, the differences he'd seen in her today, nearly nonexistent as it was. If it was this boy that had caused them, and if they continued, he would not interfere, though he would strongly hope that it was merely a phase if the boy's status in the village remained the same. _'If anything were to come of this...'_

"Well, that should be enough for now, then. Do you have any questions?" Immediately, she shook her head no, but then stopped and nodded once.

"A-ano. Naruto-kun said he wanted to tell the t-team about his father and a s-secret after we learned to t-trust each other and-"

"Hinata," his voice came out deeper, and a little harsher than he had intended, but he needed to make her stop. "I know of his secret, yes. But I can not tell you of it. That is for him, and him alone, to do. If he tells you, fine. I ask that you come to me afterwards, and I will discuss it with you as well. I may have some more that I can tell you about it than he does, or you may be able to clear up some things for me, I don't know for sure, but it would be a good thing to talk about as I will be one of the few you will be able to speak with it about." Suddenly, he realized she said more than just 'secret'. "Did you say he would tell you about his father?" When she nodded, albeit hesitantly, he began to wonder.

_'His father? Sarutobi said no one knew where Minato got him from... that he had-'_ his thinking suddenly stopped as it clicked. _'I couldn't have been that blind! He wouldn't have! He... he would have... He wouldn't have made anyone else do it... They even look alike! How could I have missed that!'_ Inwardly, he yelled at his own ineptitude. He had thought the child had died with Kushina.

Hinata had noticed her father frown in deep thought before his eyes suddenly widened. It was as though he had figured out some huge piece of information that had alluded him for a very long time. She was beginning to wonder if she had caused trouble for Naruto when she heard her father sigh and look back at her.

"Hinata, your father can sometimes be just as blind as a villager in the dark." Her look of utter confusion, even understanding the reference to the lack of the Byakugan in the dark, made him smile and laugh lightly. "Don't worry about it, Hinata. I just figured out who his father is. And I can't believe I hadn't figured it out sooner. I suppose I was simply blinded by other matters when in regards to the boy. I would like for you to bring your team over some time, whether it be for a meal or after training doesn't matter. If you make it a meal, however, which I would prefer, then please invite Kurenai-san. I would much rather you do this, however, after he has told you his secret, or if he tells you that he is ready, then I have no problems with him telling you all here." He motioned for her to wait for a few moments as he began to write a note. Once done, he sealed it and gave it to her.

"That is a letter for you to give Naruto. As I have little doubt he will ask you about it anyway, I will tell you that it explains that I wish to speak with him as I know of both his secret and his father, and would like to speak with him about both. It also requests that he tell you, at the very least, about both sooner rather than later and while in my presence." Noticing she still looked confused, he finished, "You will understand when he tells you, Hinata." Having absolutely no clue as to what had exactly happened, Hinata decided that she would give Naruto the note after their mission the next day, so it wouldn't weigh on either of their minds, and sleep on everything. That day's events with her father just added into a long line of days she didn't know what category to put in; Father, or Clan Head. There were only two things she was sure of: Naruto would have one heck of a secret, and her father had apparently taken a liking to him, which gave her great hope for the future.

xXxXxXx

Sarutobi walked into the lowest regions of ANBU headquarters where he met up with two of the highest level shinobi in the village; members of his own special task force, known as Shadow. These were shinobi the Sandaime himself had hand-picked and trained specifically for the tasks Konoha could never have records of. Their every mission was black ops and each member had no family left, save themselves. They resided together and their very purpose in Konoha was centered around the protection of Uzumaki Naruto and anything that revolved around him.

As the Sandaime walked into the conference room, he took his seat as each member who was currently at attention sat after him. "On Mizuki, report." The cat-faced ANBU to his right slid a folder towards Sarutobi as she began speaking.

"From what we've been able to tell, and from our discussions amongst the faculty at the school, we've come to learn that Kokuzoku Mizuki has been acting relatively 'odd', in the words of a few of the teachers, for approximately four months. It seems that he had originally been among the many that showed Naruto-kun malice, but it was about that same time that he started acting 'odd' that he also began to treat Naruto-kun well." Sarutobi raised an eyebrow when Cat stopped for a breath and allow him to let the information sink in.

"You mean he's been planning this for four months?" Several ANBU in front of him seemed to nod.

"We believe so, but we are currently unable to find out for sure as Naruto-kun was quite ... thorough ... in his handling of Mizuki." Sarutobi had to keep the grin off of his face as he felt the satisfaction of each of the ANBU ahead of him seem to radiate pride in the boy.

"What of the search of Mizuki's home?" This time, a lizard-faced ANBU decided to answer him, as he'd been the one to take control over the search itself.

"Quite a bit better, Hokage-sama. We've been able to gain proof he was working with _someone_ but have so far been unable to figure out who exactly. We have a name of 'Rejin', but haven't been able to associate it with anyone within Konoha. Therefore, we believe he was working with someone from another hidden village, but will need to wait until Mizuki comes out of his coma before we can interrogate him. We have at least one of our own me-"

"AHEM!" A rabbit-faced ANBU interrupted the Lizard in an obviously female voice.

"Sorry, sorry. We have at least one of our own _people_," he stressed the word while looked towards Rabbit, probably with a glare, Sarutobi suspected, "watching him at all times on top of the standard guards. We haven't noticed any attempts on his life or suspicious people about." Sarutobi nodded.

"How long should his coma last?"

"The healers believe three weeks, give or take a few days, and not only will he be out of the coma, but they believe they will have him mostly patched up to leave," Rabbit answered. "We have made sure, per your instructions, that only the head doctors know the truth, at least what they need to know of it, and that everyone knows they are the only ones who can clear him and he should remain restrained at all times."

"Good. I want a team working on him as often as possible without risking any other patients in the hospital. The sooner he's fully healed, the sooner Ibiki gets to interrogate him." He looked at each of the attending men and women. "Are there any other topics to discuss or questions?"

"Just one thing we've been discussing in our own time, Hokage-sama," Squirrel began.

"Oh? What's that?"

"Well, we were wondering whether or not you would be opposed to helping Naruto-kun's team with some of their training if it would be okay with Kurenai-san." Sarutobi watched as Rabbit, Squirrel and Panda fidgeted slightly, unsure how he would take them bringing this topic up again. It was something that he'd had to fight against several times and he was really beginning to lose arguments against it. With a sigh, he decided to give them the outright truth.

"To be quite frank, I'd love if you were able to train him," the obvious happiness the two female ANBU radiated made him feel all the worse, "but to be honest, there are several people in Konoha who would act adversely if they knew he was gaining that kind of training."

"What if we could get them faux missions outside of Konoha for a month or two at a time and use it as training periods?" Rabbit and Panda both looked over at Frog, who was usually the voice of the Hokage telling them they shouldn't train him when he offered a real idea to help them. Sarutobi simply raised an eyebrow.

"That... _could_ work, but we've got too much to keep track of right now. For now, we'll give them at least a few months for their sensei to work on them to see how they work out as long as his team passes, otherwise, I'll find a way to allow you to work with them." The ANBU nodded, albeit reluctantly and sadly, already knowing it wasn't likely he'd fail now that he made it this far.

"It has come to my attention that Naruto has been receiving some scrolls at random points in the past," Sandaime noticed that each of the ANBU suddenly seemed fidget and shift in their seats uncomfortably. "Is there something wrong?" While his question was innocent, to the guilty-minded, it seemed as if he was waiting for an admission.

"Erm," Squirrel began, "we can explain?" Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. _'This should be good...'_

"By all means, please do." Squirrel squirmed in her seat worse than Naruto with Iruka staring him down as she looked over at the other ANBU for help, regardless of the fact that they were silent before finally sighing and looking back at him.

"Well, um, you see, we've been giving Naruto-kun a few scrolls on chakra control and very low level jutsu." Sarutobi chuckled as he realized they thought they were in trouble.

"You needn't worry. Those are things that most likely cannot be traced back to anyone, so I see no reason things like that cannot be continued if you would like." Rabbit hopped in place in her seat, similarly like the animal her mask represented as she clapped quickly.

"Yay!" Lizard reached over and whacked the over-excited ANBU on the back of her head, getting a retaliatory bonk on his own head in return. Ignoring the two battling ANBU, Sarutobi looked to the others who were also ignoring them.

"You may continue offering scrolls, if you wish, to Naruto. I see no problems with that." Finally in agreement, Sarutobi left, plans in motion.

xXxXxXx

The next morning at twenty minutes until nine, Naruto showed up at the training grounds, eager to get the 'mission' started with. He had even made sure to pack his best weapons, pranking scrolls, sealing scrolls that housed extra of just about everything and anything else he could think of. Then, he sat and waited for ten minutes until Shino showed up, followed by Hinata after only another minute.

"Hi, guys! Ready for the mission?" Naruto smiled at the two as he spoke, thrilled to have made it this far in his career as a ninja. He had made only the slightest improvement on his water walking, while he'd also managed to get the water shell technique to work. It was a simple suiton technique that made a ball of water from the water in the air or any other source. His father's technique, the rasengan, still wasn't past the first stage considering he'd only just managed to get a hold of some balloons and Ryoku wouldn't let him even look at the Hiraishin technique until he'd mastered the rasengan to the same extent his father had. Naruto had tried several times, only to find himself blinded with a massive amount of red chakra in front of his eyes any time he attempted to. Trying to outsmart the bastard fox hadn't faired any better. It seemed he would always be a step ahead of Naruto, and laughing while Naruto gave a good number of obscenities each time.

"Y-yes, Naruto-kun." Hinata smiled at him while Shino simply gave a slight nod of acknowledgment. The three of them sat comfortably, or as comfortably as they could with Naruto going on and on about his thoughts on what the mission would be, until Kurenai arrived a minute before nine.

"Ah, you're all early. That's good. I like a prompt team." She trailed off and blinked a few times as Naruto bounced up and down in his spot on the ground while waving his hand in the air. "Er, yes Naruto?"

"What's the mission! What's the mission!" His two teammates sweat dropped while a vein formed at Kurenai's temple.

_'This kid is going to be the death of me!'_ she thought.

"I was getting to that, Gaki!" She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes for a moment to calm down._ 'Maybe I should have had more than those two cups of coffee,' _she thought. "Ugh. You've got _way_ too much energy for this early in the morning, Naruto." Naruto smiled sheepishly at her, not affected by her calling him names. He understood this type of name-calling versus what many of the villagers called him and was perfectly fine with it.

"Now, your goal is this. In approximately one hour, give or take twenty minutes, Hatake Kakashi will be performing his Genin survival test with Team Seven at their own training ground. They are already there and waiting. Your mission, is to use your own knowledge and skills and attempt to do either of the following: Knock him out, which you have perhaps a five percent chance of actually accomplishing, and that's a high estimate, or get his little orange book and escape back to this location without him following. You may _NOT_ kill. Loss of life is an immediate failure unless it is necessary. I will be watching, however, so I will step in before things get that far out of hand. We will treat this like an emergency mission, so you may ask questions and will be answered with partial or suspected information as if he were an enemy shinobi and get twenty minutes to plan." She looked at each of them, noticing their surprise at their mission. "You may begin."

"Hatake Kakashi is an ex-ANBU captain of the Konoha ANBU corps, codename 'Wolf'. His aliases are 'Copycat Kakashi' and 'Kakashi of the Sharingan' due to a non-biological Sharingan eye implanted in his left eye while a Genin from fellow teammate Uchiha Obito, who died on that mission. He keeps it covered unless he gets serious as it drains him of chakra at a very fast rate since he is unable to deactivate it," Naruto began, ignoring the shocked looks on everyone's faces, even Shino's.

"He is rumored to have learned over a thousand techniques, as well as taijutsu forms, by stealing them from enemy shinobi and allies and is classified as an A-rank enemy in the majority of other shinobi nations' bingo books while being an S-rank enemy in four others. After all of that, he has one original jutsu, the Chidori, or Raikiri, which is an A-ranked assassination technique based on his lightning elemental affiliation. His sensei was Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage." Naruto scrunched up his face as he remembered the last bit of information.

"He is chronically late for anything that isn't life or death, is an open pervert, as you can tell by his reading the orange book Kurenai-sensei mentioned in public, which he also has a nearly fanatical worship for, has never once passed a Genin team and it is believed that no one since his parents has seen his face, even when he eats." Naruto sat back to let the information he offered sink in, finally recognizing the looks his teammates were giving him.

"What?" Kurenai face vaulted before standing back up and glaring at him.

"How did you know all of that information! I didn't even know Kakashi's ANBU codename!" It wasn't so much that she cared about him knowing all of that information, but that she didn't know all of it that bothered her. He was more informed about Kakashi than she was, and he was just a Genin! His nonchalant shrug just upset her a little more, as if he hadn't even tried to know all of it.

"I have read most of the ANBU and Jounin personality profiles and records. He interested me when I saw him a while back, which is why I looked him up and remembered most of the file. There was some stuff about his father and such, but nothing that would really help us out too much beyond what is standard for his ranking as ex-ANBU captain." Naruto, in answering truthfully, didn't realize that he'd actually said that he had read what were supposed to be classified documents.

"Naruto," Kurenai sighed before changing her mind about asking him how he'd managed to get his hands on them. "Nevermind. Well, you have plenty of information on your target, apparently. Any other questions?"

"Ano.. Um.. K-Kurenai-sensei, you said t-that Hatake-san's test will be held there. Do you know what his t-test will be?" As soon as her question was asked, Hinata shrank back just a little since everyone had focused their attention on her.

"A very good question, Hinata." Kurenai wanted to make sure she didn't feel bad about asking questions and felt that praising her for them may very well have been a good way to encourage her to ask more. "But I don't actually know." Naruto face vaulted with her answer.

"What do you mean you don't know!"

"I mean just that," she stated. "The only people who know are the Hokage and any of the teams he's failed, unless he told someone else that I'm not aware of. But, we have to tell the teams what their mission is today, not yesterday, just like I did, so you have about forty minutes until he shows up to find out."

"Are we to be seen by either Hatake-san or the potentials of Team Seven?" Shino's voice seemed to come from out of nowhere, spooking Naruto just a touch.

"Shino, man, you should speak up more often! You scared me!" Everyone ignored Naruto while Kurenai answered.

"I would prefer you not to be seen by anyone until you begin your plan, whatever it may be, and after that, it won't really matter." Kurenai waited only a moment for any additional questions before ending the questioning phase. "Alright. You've got about thirty five minutes until Kakashi is likely to show up based on usual tardiness. There are no more questions to me. You do this on your own from this point. She watched as Naruto hopped up and landed on his butt in front of Hinata, who startled at the sudden and quick movement, and Shino, who didn't seem to react at all.

"Pulling off pranks for years has honed my ability for stealth. I've been outrunning ANBU for years now. If you two agree, I'd like to make some clones to scout training ground seven. My clones are capable of independent thought and actions and I gain all knowledge they gained after they dispel, which I can make happen, or they can do so on their own if they get something important." Shino nodded while Hinata looked down and nodded as well.

"I would like each clone to carry a few of my allies so they can then place themselves on the members of Team Seven. Doing this, I will always know where they are located. They will also place themselves on Hatake so we know his location as well," Shino requested while Naruto grinned brightly at him.

"That's a great idea! Being an ex-ANBU captain, I'm sure he's capable of the Kage Bunshin as well, so that, along with my clones and Hinata's Byakugan should give us a nearly instant warning if we're found out!" Naruto quickly made thirty clones that each took five of Shino's Kikaichu bugs with them for seeding purposes. The clones quickly used a henge to transform into various wildlife, primarily squirrels and mice, and took off.

"I don't really think we can knock him out, he is a high level ninja after all, so I think getting the book would be the best target. So what kinds of things do you guys think we should do?"

"I agree. Even combined, our strengths are not likely to do much without risking severe injury, especially if he gets serious, which would likely end in our losing quite painfully. A distraction may be nice, but getting the book in the first place and then getting away will be the difficult parts. What do you think, Hinata-san?" Shino was far from oblivious. He was well aware of what Kurenai was doing for Hinata, and felt much the same. He had observed her in her time at the Academy and, though she was an exceedingly nice person with a kind heart, she had a severe lack of self confidence that simply threw him off. He hoped that bringing her into the conversation could allow her to open up with himself and the rest of the team so she would at least be comfortable with them all as a whole, even if not individually, for now.

"I-I agree. B-but I don't know how we can get the book." Naruto watched as she shrank back a little when she admitted not being able to help with that plan and then shrugged.

"We play to his weaknesses." When they looked at him, he explained. "We just give him something more interesting to look at," he said with a grin.

The three of them continued throwing ideas back and forth, pulling Hinata into the conversation with each idea and asking her own for specific ideas until they came up with something they thought would work out, with two backup plans for the biggest places they found that things could go wrong. Kurenai had to admit, they had come up with two good ideas. She wasn't completely fond of Naruto's contributions, but would admit that they were genius for the situation. She was equally pleased with Hinata's own contribution to the second plan. She had found a large flaw that the other two either didn't see, or thought wouldn't matter, and had managed to work around it based on what Team Seven's mission may be like. They had created a plan, which she was happy to note made sure to include all of them equally for their strengths and weaknesses, and asked themselves how it could go wrong, and fixed a good many holes.

As they each took off towards training ground seven, Naruto told them that the three potentials were still waiting by a large stump. Kakashi had yet to arrive.

xXxXxXx

Hinata got into place downwind from the three members of Team Seven with Naruto and Shino, minding Kiba's sense of smell. She had been nervous since the planning for the mission they were now on had begun, as the other two members of her team obviously wouldn't continue without her input. While she was happy that they wanted her help and ideas, she was worried that her ideas would fail and make them all fail.

_'Oh, why can't they see that my ideas are so bad! I'm always failing! Please don't let me cause them to fail too... They'll never forgive me... Naruto-kun will never forgive me... I'll ruin his dream of becoming Hokage!'_ Her thoughts continued following the same trail, not even recognizing that she had actually helped her team fix what would have been a guaranteed failure in their plan.

"My Kikaichu bugs are on them. We will know their mission when Hatake-san arrives. Until then, I think we should remain as quiet as possible as Kiba and Akamaru have excellent hearing," he whispered in their ears. Hinata and Naruto nodded their understanding. They were far enough away that it was not likely that even Akamaru would hear them, since they didn't want Kakashi to sense them when he arrived. They were only close enough to view their targets, which was vital to the start of their plans.

While Shino was conversing with his bugs, Naruto was speaking with the newly-named Ryoku. _'What do you think of our plans? Anything you would have changed?'_

"**Eh, your plans were good. Not what I would have gone with, since you want the man to live, but I would have gone a little more in-depth with the plans. There are a few holes still open, primarily since you don't know his fighting style. That, and we don't know what his mission for those three will be."** Unless training chakra or working with Naruto at night while he slept, Ryoku would have been sleeping. But with a fight coming up, he was wide awake and looking for some entertainment.

_'Well, apparently, this guy isn't overly fond of either of us since Dad sacrificed himself to seal you in me.'_ Kakashi arrived in a puff of smoke, heralded by Sakura and Kiba's twin shouts of his tardiness.

"**Yea, that means that you can't use enough of my power to be sensed, so you're on your own. I'll be watching, but that's it."**

_'I understand.'_ Naruto and the others shifted while waiting for Shino's report. A few minutes of Team Seven and Kakashi talking, and the three Genin ran into the trees.

"Hatake has two bells that they must take from him in order to pass their test. It must be done by noon, which will be signified by an alarm clock on the stump. He has apparently told them not to eat breakfast as well, as he will make whoever fails to get a bell go without lunch. My allies say he has nothing in his hands."

"D-didn't Kurenai-sensei say that three t-teams would pass? W-why would he only have two bells?"

"Possibly some hidden test. He is forcing them to work apart from each other." Shino turned to them after speaking.

"Alright, plan number two it is, then!" The group took off for their assigned tasks once Hinata told them both which pocket currently held the little orange book.

xXxXxXx

Naruto used every ounce of the stealth ability he had gained to come up a moderate distance to be only about a hundred yards from Kakashi's current resting position where his Genin hopefuls had left him. He quickly created two Kage Bunshin, one with a normal amount of chakra and one with next to none, and, using his Oiroke no jutsu, had them Henge into a woman that had recently been on his bad side, Mitarashi Anko, for making him spill some of his ramen and another woman who was just simply a composition of features of random women throughout the village that he had just thrown together. He didn't want to use his original Oiroke no jutsu form as it was too recognizable. Once done, he lowered his chakra signature to make himself appear as invisible as he was able and all three moved closer so Kakashi would hear them now that the two were created and Kakashi wouldn't feel the pulse of chakra from creating them.

The two 'women' began kissing and fondling each other, making all of the appropriate noises, though quietly for the moment. As time went on, they got louder and louder, making sure that Hinata and Shino had enough time to get into position. Naruto was glad he'd followed the Anko woman enough to get a rough idea of her personality and that he could just make one up for the other girl.

xXxXxXx

Hinata, though highly embarrassed by what she knew Naruto was doing, was inside the trees, watching the three Genin of Team Seven to make sure they didn't interfere while maintaining a visual of Kakashi. She had two Naruto clones beside her to cover her back in case of an emergency or in case one of the other team's members decided to attack her for any reason. Her job was to jump in if Kakashi realized his book was moving on it's own along with Naruto.

_'Please... please don't let me mess this up... I don't want Naruto-kun to be upset if I ruin his chance to become Hokage...'_ She quickly shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts as she remembered Naruto's words to both her and Shino before splitting up.

"_Hey guys, I just wanted to say thanks." Both Hinata and Shino looked at him a little confused, as did Kurenai._

"_Why are you th-thanking us, N-Naruto-kun?" She blushed brightly and looked away as Naruto smiled at her._

"_For not thinking we'll fail right off or thinking of me as the 'dead last', at least out loud. I've seen you both fight. Shino, your movements are strong, precise and each movement has purpose in your taijutsu. I haven't really seen any of your ninjutsu, but its probably going to be just as good since you've always seemed to put the same dedication into everything you've done." _

"_And Hinata, I saw your taijutsu matches at the Academy." Hinata was positive he was going to tell her something about how she should train more or something of a similar nature. "You tied with Sakura even though you were holding back drastically! If you go all out against Kakashi, I bet he'll be begging for mercy!" Hinata's blush nearly made her feint, and she probably would have if he hadn't taken off and brought her back to reality, where she followed, still blushing brightly, unaware of Shino being very cautious behind her, just in case she did, indeed, feint._

Naruto's belief in her and Shino as his teammates was very reassuring for her. She just hoped she could live up to his expectations.

xXxXxXx

Shino had just moved into position twenty yards from where the two 'women' were playing together behind some trees. By this point, they were just about loud enough for Kakashi to hear them, which he was quite thankful for. He may be widely known as an apathetic Aburame, but even an Aburame knew when he should blush, and this was definitely one of those times. His position allowed him to hear, but not see anything that was going on, which he wasn't sure if he was thankful for or not, since the two sounded like they were having a lot of fun. He knew that was the point, but really, there _is_ a limit to how much a guy should be able to take.

_'How am I going to look Mother in the eye?'_ Shino quickly pushed all thoughts out of his head aside from the mission when his allies told him that Kakashi had taken the bait. He double-checked with the bugs covering his body to make sure they were suppressing his chakra and scent and then readied himself to command his small army and jump in if the plan failed to that point.

xXxXxXx

Hatake Kakashi was truly beginning to wonder what was going on. He didn't expect Sasuke to come out for him yet, as he was the type to gauge his enemy first, and Sakura wouldn't make a move without getting some form of plan together first. And she certainly wasn't the type to go in for an attack when she didn't know what to do.

Kiba, however, he had expected to come after him within the first few minutes. The boy was headstrong, rash and thought much like an animal; go straight in for the kill. It was certainly easy enough to sense their chakra and figure out where they were. Kiba was practically broadcasting his location, probably not trying to suppress his chakra at all, followed by Sasuke, whom he had to actively search for and then Sakura, who he was actually having trouble finding, though he could still sense her.

It was when he was searching for Sakura's chakra, that he sensed two others, very different in levels, about sixty yards away from him. Not sure who they were, he started moving closer, only to become surprised, and somewhat happy, to hear feminine giggling. Able to tell that one of the people had ninja-like chakra reserves, or at least higher than any civilian, he stealthily made his way towards them, unaware that three seperate people were tracking him the entire way.

At the final few yards, he silently crept towards the sounds of what he could now tell to be not one, but _two_ women giggling and the occasional smacking or slurping sound. His mind, already filled with thoughts of _Icha Icha Paradise_ had a very good idea of what was going on. The last thirty yards, he had taken to the trees so as not to make too much noise and because he could look further, without worrying about being seen as easily. What he saw, however, nearly made him forget stealth. On the ground touching, kissing, _moaning_, fondling and undressing each other was none other than Mitarashi Anko, resident 'bad girl' of Konoha, and what looked to be a civilian, which he suspected was the case due to her low chakra reserves. A blush, hidden from view due to his face mask, and a barely held back perverted giggle, Kakashi got as close as he dared and began to watch as Anko treated the other woman to various spanks and nibbles, fully unaware of the bugs already in his pocket, surrounding and moving, his beloved _Icha Icha Paradise_.

xXxXxXx

Naruto watched as the pervert's little orange book came out of his pocket ever so slowly. His excitement and joy was raising as the book did, until the stupid pervert tried to move to a better position to see the action below him and felt his vest hitch when it shouldn't have. He watched as Kakashi quickly looked towards his pocket, ready to catch the book in case it was falling out, about to blow his cover, when he noticed it was covered in little black bugs. Though confused, he immediately jumped down and took the book out himself, shaking off the Kikaichu bugs. Naruto, knowing that now was his chance, let the naked random villager and Anko clones jump up and began to distract him, making a few additional clones, who all used a Henge as soon as they were created to either look like the Anko clone, or a little orange book.

"Sorry, Kakashi, but your little peepshow is over!" Kakashi was fighting his senses that kept telling him to watch her bouncing breasts as she spoke and was about to respond when several of the clones rushed in for a quick attack. Unable to put his book back in time, he simply dodged and raised the single visible eyebrow.

"I don't know who you are, but you are obviously not Anko. You don't have her evil smirk, her speed or fighting style. So whoever you are, you had better show yourself now, or I'll be forced to kill you." All of the Anko clones smirked exactly as the real one would, causing Kakashi to shiver, though not only in fear. Yes, he would have been scared had it really been her, or at least worried, but when you know its a clone and the top half of her is naked, you can't help but enjoy the sight. When they all poofed into smoke, he knew he was going to see the real face of his attacker. However, when a short, blonde-haired boy in bright orange was standing there when the smoke cleared, he paled drastically at the realization of who exactly he had just been ogling.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Kakashi almost broke down and cried. He probably would have, as he knew that he had nothing to fear from the blonde boy, but his sixth sense kicked in and he moved just in time to avoid a Jyuken strike at the base of his neck that would have knocked him out cold. He was about to process that when he suddenly moved to avoid a kick to his head. Suddenly, seeing all of the members of Team Eight, he thought he understood what was going on.

"I see. So it would seem your Genin test has something to do with me and my book." Suddenly, a wave of killer intent came from the Jounin as he glared at them in turn. "You should run while you can," he growled out. Seeing the Hyuuga heiress cringe back in fear, he smirked behind his mask, knowing he had at least one down.

"Sorry, pervert," Naruto began, unaffected by the killing intent, "but that book is only one of our mission parameters. There are several options we have." If they couldn't get the book away secretly, then the next part of their mission was simple. Make Kakashi unaware of the exact nature of their mission, as it would have been obvious from the first attempt and therefore, harder, if he knew what to protect.

"You're up against a superior opponent, even if you have the advantage in numbers. You will not win." He moved again when he realized there were more Kikaichu bugs coming towards him from behind. "And your delaying tactics won't work either, so you-"

Kakashi was cut off as Naruto rushed at him and sent a punch. After being blocked, the Naruto hopped back, only for another to come in while the first came a moment after. Thinking it was a simple bunshin, he didn't even bother to block the first clone. When it hit, he was surprised for only a moment before attacking the two clones quickly, both of them disappearing in smoke.

_'More Kage Bunshin! This kid isn't even wearing out!'_ Aware that he couldn't underestimate his opponent any longer, he attacked any of them that came towards him. It was after a few moments of blocking and killing the clones that he realized something very wrong. His arms were now covered in little black specks. The Aburame's Kikaichu bugs were on each one of those clones and he wasn't aware they were landing on him because they were blocked by the smoke. As he jumped back, he realized that a Naruto had made another twenty clones.

_'This many clones would be hard for a Jounin to match, much less a Genin... Impressive, even if only slightly.'_

"You just won't quite, will you?" He surveyed each of the enemies around him, recognizing the one who wasn't attacking him in any way yet. "What's the matter," he asked, looking right at Hinata who flinched under his gaze, "can you not fight?"

"Shut up, teme!" Each of the Naruto's, now enraged, yelled at him, causing him to laugh which only made them angrier.

"I do believe you're angry now. Perhaps you... should..." Kakashi's eye widened in disbelief as three seperate Naruto's began swirling a small ball made of chakra in their hands. "Rasengan..." he whispered.

Hinata, upset at her actions to this point and rather furious that the man Naruto was attacking had mocked her in front of him, used Kakashi's lack of attention to rush up to him and deliver a Jyuken strike to his shoulder, which effectively brought him out of his stupor long enough to kick her away from him, now unable to use his arm properly. He was still able to move it, though painfully and not as quickly as before, but jutsu that required seals were out. The part that upset him the most, however, was that it was the same arm that held his beloved book. Two of the Naruto's with the unstable rasengan in their hands rushed him, keeping him away from the book as three others that had been there since the beginning of the fight, dog piled onto it.

Kakashi rushed the clones who were over his book after dispatching the two clones who had rushed him with taijutsu. He could tell the rasengan Naruto had created was imperfect, as it only seemed to have a few swirls in it that kept it's strength low, but he also knew it would still cause a little external damage if it hit. The third clone who had the rasengan, along with the other two members of his team rushed him, making him jump over them once close enough and to the clones who had his book. A quick roundhouse and the clones all disappeared, leaving his book in their place. He picked it up and put it back in his pocket.

"I have to say, you're doing very well together, but it ends here." He used his unaffected arm and raised the forehead protector that covered his Sharingan. "You know, I didn't really think I'd have to use this, but that was too close for me, and there is no way in hell you're going to get Mr. Fun Pages from me!" He took an unfamiliar taijutsu stance and continued. "It stops being fun and games here."

Naruto looked at Kakashi and then two his two new teammates, ignoring the fact, for now, that Kakashi had actually named the little orange book. "You guys come in where you see an opening. I'm going all out with him. We can't fail here." He raised the left arm of his jacket and then bit his thumb, smearing the blood over the seal there.

"A genjutsu seal. Something I developed nearly a year back after Ji-san told me something about making me a better ninja. This is the first time I've deactivated them since I made them." Naruto took a simple and basic taijutsu form, not wanting Kakashi to copy the Kitsune forms and ignoring that he'd forgotten about the seals not long after creating them. Suddenly, Naruto blurred to Shino's vision, though still visible as he moved quickly to Kakashi. Hinata and Kakashi, thanks to their doujutsu's, had no problems keeping up with him. His speed, however, had increased by about half of his normal speed. It was enough to keep Kakashi on the defensive for a few moments, until he began exploiting all of the openings Naruto was leaving open. Naruto may have been faster, but his taijutsu was abysmal and his speed, even with Kakashi's weakened arm, still nothing compared to that of the ex-ANBU captain's. He was only getting as close as Kakashi was letting him, still underestimating the blonde. Naruto was so focused on the fight that he didn't notice his entire body warming slightly or his eyes tingle just a little, as it felt similar to the wind blowing on them.

It was a few moments later, however, that one of the five Naruto clones left joined into the fight, followed quickly by two others, that Kakashi realized what Naruto was doing. Even with his tamed arm and using his Sharingan, his chakra was draining faster than it should have been. He had completely forgotten about the Aburame and his Kikaichu bugs.

He kicked one Naruto back, which happened to be the real one, and as he destroyed two more clones, Naruto made ten more to take their place. Suddenly, they all attacked at once. He began to give the clones more serious punches and kicks, things that would take more than a few seconds to recover from, realizing his chakra was depleting quickly with the use of his Sharingan. There was a sudden jolt of pain to the shoulder attached to the arm that Hinata had hit earlier, signifying that she had joined back in. He kicked her backwards again, but this time, his arm was completely useless.

When his chakra began to deplete at it's normal rate, he was very happy. He still had to deal with his own team and, as of yet, not a single damn one of them had apparently noticed this fight going on.

_'Where the hell are they! You would think they would offer at least SOME kind of help in hopes I may pass all three instead of only two!'_ Kakashi continued to rage in his mind until he noticed something unexpected. Shino's bugs hadn't become full of chakra as he thought, or at least not only. They had eaten through the pocket of his vest and let his book fall out. It was caught by one of the Naruto's just before he hopped several feet away, slapping an explosive note right into the middle of it.

"MAKE A MOVE AND THE BOOK GETS IT!" The entire fight stopped as Naruto held his hand in the tiger seal, ready to activate the explosive note. Kakashi could tell right away that he had already put the chakra into the note and only needed to release it in order to set it off immediately. He would have counted on superior speed to get the note out, but if that were a clone, which even he couldn't tell the difference, and he made it disappear, that would also cut the chakra, causing it to go off immediately as well. "Shino, Hinata! Get behind me! Clones! Surround him!" Everyone followed their orders, Kakashi fuming behind his mask.

_'MY PRECIOUS! GIVE ME BACK MY PRECIOUS!'_ On a second line of thought, he noticed that Sakura had witnessed the entire thing and was still watching from a short distance away. He could only hope that she would use the next hour and a half to explain to her own teammates what this group had apparently known from the start.

"Alright! We're going to leave now, see? And if you follow, its bye bye birdie for your book here!" The three began walk backwards, Hinata with her Byakugan active and Shino with all of his insects hovering in the air around him, awaiting his commands. A second Naruto joined the group behind the Naruto with the book, proving to Kakashi that he did the right thing in not trying to kill off the clone.

"I applaud you. You got my book and beat me. Now, can I have it back?" Kakashi tried to sound indifferent, he really did, but even to him, his voice sounded pleading.

"Sorry, but the fate of this little piece of literature isn't ours to decide," he said. "However, we might be able to make a deal if you want to meet up at the memorial stone with a scroll filled with fifty jutsu and-"

"Naruto," Shino scolded, causing Naruto to pout.

"Oh, right. Sorry... Kinda got caught in the moment there..." Kakashi had to give it to Naruto, he didn't take his eyes off him for a moment. "You should know by tomorrow what needs to be done to get the book back, or if you even can." The four of them, real Naruto included, though the three real members of the team stayed far enough away from the clone so as not to get blown up themselves if it came to it, continued to back away when Kakashi began to wonder if they would have passed his own test. Curious, he decided to try it and see. He suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind Hinata with a kunai at her throat.

"Give me back the book or she dies," he commanded with a growl, applying enough killer intent that he was sure they would be able to feel it. Naruto's cheerful and happy expression turned to one of pure anger. Every single one of them. Shino's bugs moved to either side of him, ready to pounce if he commanded them to attack. He knew that Kakashi wasn't truly planning on killing her, but accidents could happen.

"How do I know you won't hurt her anyway!" Naruto was barely containing his anger. That was his teammate. And the man in front of him was threatening her over a damned book of all things!

"You don't. But its the only chance she has." Kakashi suddenly became aware of Kurenai's presence close enough to tell him that she was watching and, based on the killing intent projected directly at him, telling him that this was all her idea and that he was a dead man if he hurt Hinata. Suddenly, Naruto smirked and Hinata said one word that worried him enough to jump backwards as Naruto grabbed Shino and jumped off with him.

"Boom." Hinata suddenly blew up, catching both Kakashi and her teammates, though the latter only slightly as they had jumped back when he appeared behind Hinata, in the explosion. Thankfully, it wasn't large, as the technique hadn't been performed properly.

When Kakashi looked at the field, he saw all of the clones that were there previously, plus another forty, suddenly coming after him while Team Eight ran as fast as they could to get out of there. He would have followed, if every clone hadn't smirked at him and yelled the same word that he had just heard a moment ago. He barely had time to dodge them before forty-seven clones blew up where he had just been at and where he would land in waves of blonde Naruto's. He was well aware of what had happened, even if only after the fact. He had to hand it to the blonde brat, he would have passed his own test had he taken it.

Sakura, who had watched the whole thing, saw one of the Naruto clones use a Kawarimi no jutsu to switch places with Hinata, and left as all of the other Naruto's began to explode, not wanting to be anywhere near the explosions. On her way back into hiding, she tried to figure out how Naruto, the dead last of their graduating class, had managed to learn a way to make his bunshin solid and blow up to boot.

**'That bastard also beat our Jounin! He was ours and Sasuke-kun's to defeat!'** Inner Sakura raged.

_'True, but now, he's a lot weaker!'_ Two frightening smirks spread across twin faces as they began to plot.

xXxXxXx

When Team Eight was well away from training ground seven, and Shino had stated that Kakashi wasn't following, Naruto immediately turned to Hinata and began examining her neck for any sign of injury, causing her to turn beet red and feint in his arms when she felt his fingertips graze her skin gently.

"Crap! Shino! We need to get Hinata to the hospital! I think Kakashi-teme's kunai was poisoned!" Shino sweat dropped.

_'He can't really be that stupid, can he?'_ His question was answered when Naruto began running for the hospital rather than training ground eight.

"Naruto! She's fine. I believe she feinted from the situation she was just placed in." Naruto let out a sigh of relief and continued to carry her bridal style to training ground eight.

"That's good... I'd hate to have to kill him for hurting her on a training mission." Shino raised an eyebrow at the way he stated that, but left it alone. When they arrived, Kurenai was waiting for them.

"What happened to Hinata," she asked as she began to look her over. In truth, she had a very good idea, but wanted to make Naruto squirm.

"I dunno! She was fine, but when I checked her neck for injuries, she turned really red and passed out! I was gonna take her to the hospital, even though its an evil place, and Shino said she was fine, just that she feinted."

_'Ah, that's what it was. I knew Kakashi didn't use any poisons, but Hinata was really red there. I should have suspected that.'_ Kurenai waved a smelling salt under Hinata's nose to wake her up before continuing, ignoring Hinata's embarrassed state as she woke up.

"I have to say, I'm incredibly proud of you three. I honestly didn't think you would get the book. Or at least not get it and keep it. But you three surpassed my every expectation." She smiled as the three of them beamed in happiness. Granted, Shino seemed to simply stand a little taller, but that seemed to be saying a lot at this point. "Now, let's treat this like a real mission report. Give me the book and then tell me what happened from the beginning to end and how you beat him." Naruto gave her the book sans the explosive note, which the clone deactivated, and they each took turns explaining their actions in private, and then together, Hinata and Shino correcting Naruto on certain aspects. Once done, she was still very happy. Not only did her team exceed every expectation she had for them, but she would be able to tell _everyone_ how her Genin team bested the Copycat Ninja, Hatake Kakashi.

"Very good, all of you. Shino, that was an excellent use of your Kikaichu bugs. Weakening him while he used his Sharingan and Naruto using taijutsu was only beneficial, especially eating through the pocket."

"Hinata, you did an excellent job taking out his arm in the beginning. That kept him from using any jutsu that could have easily turned the battle into his favor. And once you took out his entire arm, that put you three onto a much more even playing ground with him."

"And Naruto, you used your Kage Bunshin to weaken him and create openings for your team, which was excellent with Shino's Kikaichu bugs. Also, allowing the clone to hold the book with the explosive note kept him from using his superior speed against you since he knew that it would have been safe to blow up if you weren't risking your own life to do so." She noticed he looked a little shocked after she said that. "You didn't realize that part, did you?" He laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head.

"Eheh, the clone was just the first one to get the book and he already had the explosive note active." Kurenai sighed lightly after his explanation.

"Well, at least it worked out in the end. Now I'm going to give you guys areas to work on, since I noticed some places you could improve." Seeing Naruto about to question her, she decided to speak before he could. "I'm doing this because everyone can improve. There is never good enough. There can be good, great or incredible, but there can, and will, always be someone better. So never settle for where you are at." She noticed that seemed to get him thinking.

"Now Shino, you could probably stand to work on your speed. As your primary focus during the plan was using your Kikaichu from a distance with distraction taijutsu only, that was all I could see that needed help."

"Hinata, as Naruto mentioned earlier, you pulled your punches. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I weren't looking for it," that actually made her wonder how _he_ noticed it, "but it was there. Your only real disadvantage with the Jyuken style is meeting someone with greater speed, so I would say pulling punches and speed, as you can never be fast enough, either." Here, she turned to Naruto, who seemed to be eager to hear what he needed to work on.

"Naruto, since you used more taijutsu than anyone else, I can safely say that you need to work on your forms drastically. It looked like you improvised everything you did. As the others, I would say speed is something you should work on as well. Now, I also noticed that you used your clones in a lot of areas where your teammates would have been able to help also, like when you went against Kakashi with his Sharingan. Had Hinata not come in when she did, he would most likely have beaten you." His frown made her realize he didn't understand.

"I know that you would rather the clones get hit than your teammates, but one, they need the experience as well and, two, they can attack in ways that you can't, such as the Jyuken or eating his chakra and and covering your back if you get knocked unconscious and the clones disappear." As he went into his thinking face, she could tell he would understand.

"Beyond that, I think we should all work on some of the basics, like taijutsu, chakra control, speed, new jutsu and the like. If we do that, we'll probably become a very powerful team. I mean, really, you just won over what had, at one time, been an ANBU Captain." She could tell all three of them were pleased. And they had every right to be.

"Ne, Kurenai-sensei? Why did you want that book, anyway?" Naruto was curious what they had actually done all that work for. He knew the book was a perverted one as he'd even read a copy he'd found in the trash while still perfecting his Orioke no Jutsu, since actions were needed, not just the beautiful body. He still had it sealed in his random items scroll.

"Well," Kurenai smirked, "you had the right idea while getting the book from him. We can use it for a trade. I give him the book, he gives you each a jutsu scroll, though only something basic, of course. You won't be getting anything like the Chidori you read about in his file. But you could probably get something good. He does know a large number of jutsu, after all."

"Ano... K-Kurenai-sensei," Hinata began, "does this mean that we p-passed?" Kurenai smiled.

"Welcome to Team Eight, all of you!" Hinata smiled brightly while Naruto hopped up and threw a fist into the air with a loud yell of triumph and Shino had a smirk, visible for all to see. "Now, I'm going to report in to the Hokage. You've all got the rest of the day off. I highly advise going home and resting. I want you here, tomorrow at seven. We're going to get in a light workout and then do some missions."

"Yes! Are we going to go fight off some bandits," Naruto began moving around as though fighting with a sword, "or protect some weak prince or something?" He made a few more moves while speaking, until he tripped and fell about two seconds after finishing his question, causing Hinata to giggle and Kurenai to smile at his antics. Shino simply stood there, though he looked as though he were examining a new bug with his head cocked to the side.

"Nothing like that for a little while, Naruto. As Genin, and brand new Genin at that, we will be performing D-rank missions. That means simple things that a lot of villagers could do, but pay us to do so we can learn to work together and learn about each other more until we prove we are truly good enough for stronger missions."

"Aw! But we're plenty strong now! I mean, did you _see_ the way Hinata pommeled that pervert?" He waved his hands in the air wildly as though emphasizing his point. "And Shino kept weakening him more and more without even being near the danger unless he saw an opening!"

"Naruto!" Kurenai had heard enough. The brat was just as annoying as Iruka claimed. "We do them for several reasons. Right now, you three worked amazingly well for your first time together. However, you had a good plan and knew what you were getting in to, though you could have potentially killed your teammates with that exploding clone trick you pulled," Naruto had the grace to blush and look down at his feet.

"Also, believe it or not, Kakashi had held back greatly because he knew you weren't a true threat to him. Doing these missions will allow us to learn how to respond to what each other will do without even having to talk to one another, if all goes well, of course. This will also allow us to learn about each other and learn how to use our techniques with our teammate's techniques to become even more powerful together. Yes, they will be boring, but the most powerful shinobi in the world all learned from the basics up because all of the harder stuff is created by expanding the basics and making them stronger and more powerful. Also, learning the basics allows us to learn some of the most powerful techniques much more easily and, therefore, much more quickly." She hadn't given him a chance to interrupt, wanting to make sure she impressed upon him that this was for the best. Iruka had spoke non-stop for nearly twenty minutes, just as she had done, about how to best get Naruto to do something; by telling him that it would make him very powerful. And it looked as though it had worked, since he was nodding his agreement.

"I know all about the boring basics thing, but boring is just so... boring..." Kurenai's left eyebrow began to twitch. Iruka hadn't warned her enough, it would seem.

"You'll do the missions and be happy!" She yelled, shaking her fist in anger at him. His suddenly widening eyes showed he was surprised, but it was the multiple anti-evil pendants and medallions that he seemed to pull from nowhere that showed she had accomplished her goal of putting enough fear into him to last, hopefully, a few days at least.

"Yes, Ma'am," he squeaked. She humphed, nodded, and turned to go deliver her report to the Hokage and send some requests to a few of the other Jounin, leaving the three Genin alone. "Man girls can be scary..." He suddenly came back into reality as he heard Kyuubi speak up.

"**Finally! I didn't think she would ever leave! Alright gaki, I need you to do something important. Ask them to train tomorrow after missions if you have time and then hightail it to that ramen stand."** Any resistance Naruto would have offered left him immediately upon those words.

_'Can I invite them?'_ The giant fox sighed.

"**Yea, but tell them that you're very, very hungry and plan to eat a lot. I'll explain on the way there."** Unsure of what was going on, Naruto complied.

"Hey guy, wanna go get some ramen? I'm really, really hungry and feel like I could eat them out of business!" He smiled his foxy grin as he said that, since it wasn't far from the truth anyway. Both agreed, as neither had anywhere to be for some time. They walked in a comfortable silence while Naruto spoke with Ryoku.

_'Okay, what's wrong?'_

"**Well, nothing is wrong, but I have a surprise for you if you want it."** Foxes were known as tricksters for a reason. Admittedly, he did have his gift for Naruto ready now, but that didn't mean he had to tell him without a little fun first.

_'A gift? What kind of gift? Is it a kick-ass jutsu? I bet its a kick-ass jutsu! Teach me the jutsu!'_ Naruto was nearly foaming at the mouth as he thought of jutsu, though mentally only. He had to keep up appearances on the outside.

"**Well, technically, my gift has the potential to give you an unlimited number of jutsu. What do you think it is?"** Behind the bars of his cage, his tails twitched in anticipation.

_'All your memories?'_ His tails weren't twitching anymore.

"**No you Gaki! I can give you the damned Sharingan!"** In his anger, he forgot all about playing with Naruto.

_'Are you serious? You can give me the Sharingan?'_ Naruto couldn't believe it. That would help make him as powerful as any ninja out there in terms of jutsu.

"**Yes. When you fought the Uchiha in the Genin Selection exams, I couldn't heal your wounds right away since there were so many people who were watching. That allowed some of his blood to get into your system, which normally wouldn't have happened, and I happened to figure out how to give it to you. I will change it a little, of course, so you can keep your current eye color, since we don't want you to look like an Uchiha. Now, eat ramen until you feel ready to burst. I'll need all of the energy I can get from your body, meaning converting food straight to energy to use. And to make it finish by tomorrow's missions and such, tonight is going to hurt like hell, but we need to do it before the genetic information becomes too old to use, which is three days, and since we don't have a full day off, now is as good a time as any. I started it earlier while you were pumping chakra through your body so I could start immediately as it wouldn't hurt you to do so and would save us a few hours later. So eat as much as you can and get straight home. Remember to ask them to train. You'll be tired, but I can help with that and we want to test it out as soon as possible. Got it?"** Rather than ask questions, which could be done later, Naruto decided to trust him and go with it.

_'Got it. Thanks, Ryoku. I know you are doing this to help you as much as me, but still, thank you.'_ Naruto cut the link, not sensing the demon's surprise at having actually been thanked, and talked with his friends about the mission and ate like an Akamichi, surprising the hell out of his teammates, though Teuchi said it was normal for Naruto. Once done, Naruto paid for his friends, saying that he had been the one to ask them to lunch. Hinata had also given Naruto the letter from her father, deciding to do it while they had the time. From there, they went home, though Naruto waddled more than walked. He was fully unable to run and thanking the fox the whole time. Eating until you feel ready to burst hurt like hell, but it was _so _worth it. As soon as the door closed to his apartment, the fox had Naruto lie in bed.

"**I'm going to try and do this as quickly as possible, but slow enough to keep any pain from getting too serious. If I can, I'll put you to sleep as soon as possible. See you in the morning, Brat."** With that, Naruto's body erupted into fire, his back arching and his whole body tensed in pain. Nothing the villagers had ever subjected him to was ever this bad.. He could feel Kyuubi's chakra coursing through him, staying beneath the surface of his skin, coming out only occasionally to change every cell it reached. The only thing that kept the whole of Konoha from hearing him was the fox's numbing his vocal chords so they couldn't make any noise. It was just over ten hours later when it ended, and Naruto passed out.

Ryoku took momentary control of Naruto's body long enough to set his clock before going back. He then ignored his own fatigue, having used more chakra than he had in twelve years and expanded his senses to keep watch over the boy, just in case any rogue chakra had been detected.

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**Author's Note** – Quick things you may want to know for possible questions this chapter may have brought up:

**-Question1:** Why didn't Hinata, and especially Shino, join in more during the fight with Kakashi?

**-Answer1:** First, Shino's primary purpose in the fight was to use his Kikaichu bugs for draining Kakashi and make him slower and weaker, hopefully, and use his bugs to either get the book and carry it off, or do as he did in the fight and create an opportunity for one of the other members to get the book. He had to stay back a bit to fully observe what was going on and to view any chances to get the book. He was able to come in at any point he saw an opening or if he was needed as he did. Hinata's primary goal was to keep an eye out for Team Seven, even being seeded with a female Kikaichu, and come in any time she had an opportunity to do so or grab the book that she was also keeping an eye on. Even if physically weaker than Shino, her taijutsu was far more effective, and by her initial attack, she was able to keep Kakashi from performing jutsu and mold his chakra properly.

**-Question2:** What's up with Hiashi's actions while speaking with Hinata and why does he seem like two seperate people to Hinata?

**-Answe2:** His actions during the conversation are due to several factors, which I will only touch upon to maintain plot integrity. He isn't a completely bad guy. He's moderately normal, but has a side of himself that was created due to the strict nature of the Hyuuga clan (I am NOT referring to a multiple or split personality disorder of any sort.) and this is also the side that deals with Hyuuga politics, clan image, proper mannerisms and the like. The other side is his fatherly nature, which is what, for the most part, we witnessed during the conversation, aside from when she asked about Naruto's secret. This is the side that loves his daughters, his clan as a family rather than village figurehead, and houses his compassionate side and such. As to when the two sides are prominent rather than overruled by the other side depends on the situation that has manifested. This is why he seems to have two sides to Hinata. No more explained until a slightly later chapter.

**-Question3**: What actually happened with Naruto while fighting Kakashi when he felt his body warm and his eyes felt as though wind hit them?

**-Answer3:** The Kyuubi, or Ryoku as he is now temporarily called (Kyuubi is a title), just set his plan into action. He activated cells in Naruto's body where he could spread the DNA information for the Sharingan since Naruto had so much chakra coursing through his body already. It allowed him to begin and halt the process so that he could do it faster when he finally got around to it. Also, Kyuubi will only be called Ryoku until Team Eight learns about him.

**-Question4:** Why did you describe the way Hinata was running back to her home in such detail?

**-Answer4:** I would suggest re-reading the bit and paying close attention if you have to ask this one, but I will respond just in case. If you pay attention, she was happy about Naruto being on the same team as her and she was making it through the crowds unscathed and dodging everyone. The moment she began to doubt herself, she began to bump into people. I was going for a subtle hint that she is limited by her own views and confidence levels in this respect.

**-Question5:** What is your version of the explosive note's functions?

**-Answer5:** Chakra is placed into the note. After the chakra is released (over time for timing features or drawing it out immediately) causes it to explode. It can also be drawn out in such a way as to deactivate the note by closing off the 'reservoir' the chakra leaks out of. (Done by changing the seal on the note by a single line or 'tieing' off the chakra in a knot-like fashion, it can be fully deactivated and made safe by SLOWLY drawing out the chakra, otherwise control is lost and it explodes by the chakra expanding like the Kage Bunshin Daibakuha.)

**-Question6:** Were you blatantly referencing or making fun of "The Lord of the Rings"?

**-Answer6:** Yes, I most certainly was. I didn't really care for it, but I can't help but find that bit rather comical. Though, reading back on it... the humor factor IS relatively lost.

-**Question7:** Will Naruto be using his Sharingan to learn a tonne of jutsu, taijutsu and such?

-**Answer7:** No – Naruto will want to actually **work** for everything he does. You will see in another chapter where he decides what he's going to do. But just so it is said, he will be using the eye kind of like Kakashi – In big fights where he needs the advantage.

-**Question8:** Will Naruto be getting the Byakugan or other bloodlines?

-**Answer8:** Yes, actually, he will. However, each additional bloodline is going to add severe and extreme consequences. He will actually rarely use these abilities. Things will become worse because of these bloodlines being added to him until it comes to a head during the Chuunin exams.


	4. Naruto's Sharingan & Meeting the Father

Adaptation

Chapter4- Naruto's Sharingan and Meeting the Father

Ship: Naruto/Hinata

Author: Paladeus

Key: "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

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**A/N:** - Remember, updates will be infrequent as this story is only being written while I need a break from my other ones.

**Challenges:** On my profile is a link to my FF (DOT) Net Forums. On those forums are challenge requests by me to you in the Naruto and Harry Potter universes. I'd greatly appreciate any views on those challenges or anyone who would like to accept them, feel free to let me know. I'd personally like to know if anyone finds them as decent plot devices or not. If you do accept a challenge, feel free to reply to the forum and let others know, preferably after you've posted the first chapter so they have something to visit and you can link to it.

**Recommended Story of the Chapter**: "Angel Wings" by DarkestDepths90

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**Previously:**

_Naruto's body erupted into fire, his back arching and his whole body tensed in pain. Nothing the villagers had ever subjected him to was ever this bad.. He could feel Kyuubi's chakra coursing through him, staying beneath the surface of his skin, coming out only occasionally to change every cell it reached. The only thing that kept the whole of Konoha from hearing him was the fox's numbing his vocal chords so they couldn't make any noise. It was just over ten hours later when it ended, and Naruto passed out._

xXxXxXx

"**Oi, Gaki! Wake up!"** Naruto, roused rather rudely from his slumber, jumped and fell from his bed with a yelp, only to moan in pain as his entire body erupted into a warm ache with old pains. It wasn't more than he could handle, but it was certainly something he wouldn't be able to ignore.

"Oh sweet Kami! You bastard fox! That hurt like hell!" He slowly made his way into a kneeling position before using the bed as leverage to stand up fully. His entire body was stiff and his back protested any form of bends or twists.

"**Now, I know you don't mean that. Especially with your new bloodline and all."** He trailed off as Naruto remembered exactly _why_ he was in so much pain.

"Oh yea!"

"**Now, I'd like you to try and limber up and then we'll try and activate it. For now, we have two hours before we need to meet up with your team for training and such, and we need to be able to move around better than this. We'll make sure everything is okay after you can move mostly like normal."**

"What do you mean 'make sure everything is okay'! Did you break me! You! You bastard fox!" Naruto was beginning to get hysterical.

"**Calm down! I just mean the changes I made to the eyes and such!"** In truth, he meant everything, as he couldn't be totally sure he did everything properly. Humans were a very simple creature in their genetic make-up, but mistake could still happen. He just didn't have to tell Naruto that.

"Oh! Oh thank Kami..." Naruto sighed and began to trudge to the bathroom, intent on at least getting a look at his eyes to see if anything had changed yet. When he shuffled into the room, trying to move as little as possible, he looked into the mirror and found the same blue eyes he was used to looking at him.

"I guess you were right when you said I could still keep my own eye color."

"**Of course! I'm the king of all demons! Such a simple thing is child's play to me!"** He refused to admit that it actually had a good chance of changing to some random color to Naruto.

"If you're so strong, I don't suppose you can use any of that healing chakra of your's to help with this, could you?" Naruto knew that his new eyes were worth the pain, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"**Sadly, no. You aren't actually wounded or anything, just stiff. I'll use some of my chakra to ease the pain a little, but I can't do much because there isn't really anything for me to do, so suck it up."**

"Alright, I understand," he sighed. "This is going to hurt like hell, though." Ryoku simply grunted in amusement. He felt he deserved to be amused after all of his hard work.

The fox walked him through the basics of what his Sharingan was capable of, most of which he'd remembered from the class at the Academy that spoke of doujutsu that were in Konoha. He had spent twenty grueling minutes of painful stretches and then twenty more of gentle exercise in order to limber his body back up and loosen his stiff muscles. He could now move almost normally, though anything strenuous was still a bit painful and he was nowhere near as strong or as fast as he would be at one hundred percent.

"So, how am I supposed to activate this thing, anyway? I mean, do I channel chakra to my eyes or click my heels three times or say the magic words?" He probably wouldn't have been so condescending if he didn't remember the pain from the night before.

"**Well, the Uchiha's wasn't active, but the genes were still there for it. When I gave it to you, I activated it, so we don't have to worry about that, thankfully. I mean, if he hasn't activated it yet, I don't know what it would take. He's been mauled by fangirls, seen his parents murdered by his own brother and trains as hard as you do. If none of that did it, he may very well be a lost cause."**

"Uh, Kyuubi, buddy, you kind of lost the point of the question there..."

"**Oh, right, sorry. I was just thinking. Anyway, remember to try and call my Ryoku. We don't want to make a mistake like that until you tell your teammates at the very least. Then you can go back to calling me Kyuubi. Ryoku just sounds a little odd since I haven't heard it for several thousand years."**

"Right, sorry."

"**Anyway, your's is now active. I had to do that to make the changes I wanted to the eye."**

"Uh, what changes, exactly _did_ you make," Naruto asked nervously.

"**Well, starting from the visual and then the actual functions of the eye, I started by letting the normal eye color remain your own blue, and made that the actual color the normal eye will now have, just as the Uchiha have their onyx, or black, eyes. Also, your eyes will remain their current blue color, where the original genetics of the eye had them change to a red when they are activated."**

"Okay, nice. I'm liking that I won't be a Sasuke look-a-like. We don't want to go the way of the Uchiha."

"**Yes, well, there is also the Mangekyo stage, which was the final stage of the eye."** Naruto scrunched up his face when Ryoku mentioned that.

"I don't remember Iruka-sensei ever saying anything about that. What was it about?"

"**Well, I don't really know. You see, the genetic code for that stage was completely chaotic."** Feeling Naruto's confusion, he elaborated. **"Genetic code is basically a bunch of commands that say 'this belongs this way' and 'that belongs that way' and how everything works when put together. In other words, all Uchiha have their black eyes, which is coded that way, and you now have blue, and so will your children. The only problem with that is that it makes each stage slightly harder to get, but nothing that isn't worth it in every way. However, the code that says 'the final stage is obtained this way' is ... I don't even know how to describe it other than what I said previously: 'complete chaos'. There are so many different ways to get it, and different end results that I couldn't even make heads or tails of it. It was like a huge maze of extreme situations to get random results."**

"So, what does that mean for what we're doing now? And did you make any other changes?"

"**Well, that means that I couldn't, and still can't, help you with the final stage, if you can even get it. I can't activate it, nor can I tell you how, since I can't break that code. Its like a giant puzzle, so I'll probably end up using it to figure it out for something to do in here. As for other changes, I changed the eye colors and activation method so your children will be born with it, just like the Hyuuga and their Byakugan and rather than have a round pupil like a normal human, it will be slitted like my own when active and will be the largest characteristic that's obvious from your normal eyes. Also, I gave it my own little tweak."** Suddenly, a burst of apprehension and suspicion made the demon smirk in his cage.

"What kind of 'tweak' are we talking about?" If changing the color of the eyes and making it immediately available to his children wasn't 'tweaking', Naruto was unsure if he wanted to know what _was_. The fuzzball's amused chuckling didn't help matters.

"**Don't worry. I won't do anything to you when it means my death. Like I said, you humans have simple bodies and such, so doing this wasn't difficult or anything. However, in looking through the code for the Sharingan, I was able to see how the eye would function, and simply allowed it to let you see better naturally without it. So basically, I just switched your normal eyes to allow them to have a very slight bit of the ability the Sharingan wields. I had already done this, but I was able to extend it just a touch more this time. This will allow you to see better in low light, see things moving more quickly and the like. I couldn't change much else of the Sharingan without running the risk of losing some of it's abilities or possibly even blinding you. Even if the code is simple, changing certain parts requires changing a lot of the rest as well. And without being able to change anything in regards to the last stage, I didn't want to risk doing something regrettable, so I could really only change simple things like the color. I just have your own genetic code for a comparison, so I didn't want to risk anything serious. I may be able to make changes later, though. We'll just have to wait and see."**

"That's okay. This is still going to help us a lot!" Naruto couldn't care less if Ryoku couldn't add other features or anything. Just having this would make him that much more powerful. "But you didn't tell me how to turn it on. Can you do that."

"**Oh, right. Now that you can use it, you just need to channel chakra to your eyes like when you want to see further or more clearly. More so, than what I'd already done to your normal eyes."** Naruto did as he was told and was immediately amazed by the affects. His entire apartment came into sharp focus from right in front of him all the way to the back wall where he could even see the little imperfections in the color on the wall and the cracks in it. He could see the tiny particles of dirt on the window sill and all of his clothes sitting just through the door into his bedroom.

"Wow," he said, "this place is a dump!"

"**Glad you like it. Now I'm going to bed! I used up a lot of chakra doing that and then I stayed up in case anyone came, so I'll talk to you in a few days' time. That took a lot out of me. G'night."**

"Good night." After deciding to clean his apartment later, he checked his clock and determined he still had plenty of time to waste before he had to meet his team.

First, he went to his bathroom and looked into the mirror. He saw his normal eyes still looking back at him. His eyes were their usual blue, black irises in the center but slitted to look more like Kyuubi's and three black tomoes coming from it like little hooks out in the shape of a little hooked triangle or caltrop; one on top and two on bottom, each angling away from the center.

"Wicked..." Happily, he decided to leave an hour earlier than he needed to so he could get in some extra physical work done so he could limber up more. While dressing, he also noticed that his jacket was a little smaller on him than usual in length of the arms and tight around the shoulders, suggesting the fox did more than just 'tweak' his eyes. Shrugging it off as a good thing, he took off out of his apartment. When he arrived at training ground eight, he made forty clones and had them all surround him, ready to come in one right behind the other. He cracked the bones in his neck and activated his new version of the Sharingan, motioning for the first clone to begin.

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Hinata awoke very slowly, not wanting to leave her dreams. Since the night that Naruto had told her that they would both be on the same team, she had dreamt of the two of them, side by side, fighting against incredible odds and becoming more and more powerful. It was odd, really, when each morning she realized she was unable to remember any specifics of the dreams. But she understood and remembered the basics, which was more than enough to make her hope for a great future. Especially when the only specifics she _did _remember were more of a romantic interest to her that left her blushing as she awakened.

This morning was no different than the others, however. As she woke, the details fled from her mind, leaving her wondering what her dreams held. She only wondered briefly, however, as she realized that today was the day she began her missions with Naruto and Shino. A sudden smile bloomed on her face as she quickly got out of bed and went through her morning rituals to prepare for the day, finishing as quickly as possible so she could make it to the training ground early.

After bathing, dressing and eating a quick breakfast, she made her way out of the Hyuuga compound and ran to training ground eight as quickly as possible, meeting Shino after only a few minutes from the training ground.

"Ohayo, Shino-kun," she said. Shino merely nodded to acknowledge her presence and she decided to walk along with him so as not to be rude and leave him there. After perhaps two minutes, they began to feel chakra spiking without any discernible pattern. They looked at each other and ran to the training grounds to see Naruto and three clones fighting while an additional twenty-two stayed on the sidelines, watching with their new Sharingans active though neither could tell. The two newcomers remained hidden in the branches of some trees while they observed Naruto fight, both slightly impressed to watch him train, though they were able to tell his was a little jerky in his movements. Each assumed that his clones had gotten in a few good hits before they had arrived.

The fight had changed to Naruto maintaining his Sharingan while only one random clone would use theirs so he could get used to it with opponents of different levels. Naruto was somewhat surprised to realize that he could instinctively tell that his taijutsu forms were horrible. He wasn't sure about what it was, exactly, that threw him off, but he was able to tell that the forms weren't... _perfect_, for lack of a better way to say it.

Naruto was also surprised to note that he was able to notice that his new eyes seemed to 'signal' him when a jutsu was used and recorded it. Naruto wasn't sure why it was recording jutsu that he already knew, but didn't worry about it after seeing a jutsu performed more than once and not getting the signal more than the first time. It was quite obvious that he would have to find someone to properly teach him taijutsu since his eyes didn't 'signal' him at all except for the ninjutsu he used. He just seemed to know that every form his clones took was 'wrong'.

The fighting by this point was all about testing the eyes' reaction speeds and varying levels of abilities. When one of his clones used a henge to transform into a rock, he was able to see a faint, but noticeable haze of chakra around the clone, but when he performed his Oiroke no jutsu, merely for comparison purposes of course, he wasn't able to detect the haze, though it was still there on all other transformations, which confused him to no end. For all intents and purposes, it was as if he were actually looking at a naked blonde woman teasing him.

Finally, one of his clones jumped into the fight and the rest spread out around Naruto to form a small circle surrounded by a larger circle, each clone equally distanced from the next and circling at different directions. Once they saw him disburse the final clone into a cloud of smoke, all fourteen that had surrounded him rushed forwards and began to attack with everything they had, not sparing punches, kicks or whatever else they came up with. Though he was able to see their movements, he wasn't fast enough to block or counter-attack them all in time. He was able to take out three on the initial rush simply due to sacrificing his defense while the rest managed to score individual hits. They continued to beat him mercilessly as he took them out one at a time whenever he managed to recover from a hit fast enough before the next fell into place until it was him and one last that had stayed out of the over all melee and simply watched the whole time with his own Sharingan active.

"So? How'd it look on your end?" The real Naruto asked, trying to catch his breath. The two spectators feared they'd been found for a moment before hearing a voice speak from below them.

"Not bad, but we need to work on taijutsu. We didn't have a single perfect form, unless they don't 'signal' us when those are done properly. We should try the Kitsune forms later. Also, speed was a huge problem along with whatever that was with the Oiroke no jutsu." The clone seemed to think for a moment before continuing. "Also, I would like to see what happens against someone who doesn't already know our moves and-," he stopped to sniff the air, suddenly smelling something tantalizing, "and do you smell ... jasmine?"

Up in the branches of the trees, Hinata blushed and began to poke her fingertips together, knowing that it was a shampoo that she had heard some of the girls discuss recently that she had wanted to try that he had smelled. Normally, she used a scentless shampoo so she had less chance of being detected, but she rather liked the scent herself but could tell that would have to change very soon. She and Shino, realizing they were found out, came from the branches and walked up to Naruto.

"Impressive, Naruto-san. Forgive us for watching while in hiding, but we didn't wish to distract you. We were also unaware it was you as we felt large chakra spikes while on our way here and felt it prudent to observe before entering." Shino didn't really know if he felt comfortable speaking this much yet, as it had a tendency to draw potentially unwanted attention towards himself, but he felt that he would offer a better and more concise explanation than a currently-flustered Hinata would. Also, he knew he'd be stuck with this team for some time and decided that he would trust his instinct, which was telling him that his two teammates wouldn't belittle him for his clan's heritage. Hinata simply didn't want Naruto to believe her to be some form of pervert for spying on him and getting caught.

"Ah, no worries, guys," he said, smiling. "We're teammates, so I don't mind if you want to watch me train. Just promise that, if you find out something...," here, he frowned, "_odd_... that you will talk with me about it before discussing it outside of our team? You can also discuss it with Kurenai-sensei, as she could probably answer it for you if you are worried about talking to me first, alright?" Needless to say, his comments got rather intriguing looks from his teammates, who simply nodded their assent while looking at him curiously.

"It isn't that I don't want you guys to talk about me or anything, but it has to do with some of my secrets that I plan... want ... to tell you guys later, and if you go around talking about it, it could be bad. I just want to tell you in case it comes to that situation." Naruto really didn't want to hook them like this and then tell them nothing, but the truth of the matter was, he had to make them aware of that in case something like this, where they come and watch him again, happens and he uses Kyuubi's chakra since the furball had given him limited access. He knew secrets could kill a team, but at least he was owning up to the fact that he had some, and that he wanted to tell them. That had to count for something, right?

"Very well, Naruto-san. We will discuss any oddities between either you or Kurenai-sensei should they ever arise," Shino stated, as Hinata nodded her agreement. "But you do plan on telling us? You make it sound as though it were very important that we know your secret." Unknown to the others, Kurenai had come up in the middle of Naruto's previous requests, and was somewhat proud of her new team. They were conducting themselves wonderfully together with minimal interference from her, and Naruto had managed to hit an issue she herself had been worried about.

"It is important, very much so, but something that I feel has to wait until you know me, and me you, better. I will tell you, either if it becomes necessary, or if we manage to trust each other as I hope we can." He trailed off a little with a frown as he watched the grass sway slightly in the breeze. After a moment of silence, he looked up to them and smiled brightly. "But, I don't really think it would be too long before I tell you! You two have been great!" Hinata blushed and looked down while Shino cocked his head to the side almost imperceptibly while trying to figure out the riddle that was Uzumaki Naruto when Kurenai jumped down.

"I agree whole-heartedly with Naruto's decision. I assure you, you needn't worry about his secrets for now, as they don't really have much affect on us. Now, who's up for some sparring and then missions afterwards?" Kurenai clapped her hands together and rubbed them furiously as though plotting great evil in her mind. She was somewhat surprised when Naruto raised his hand and began waving it back and forth as though he were in the Academy again. "Er, yes Naruto?" She suddenly had a feeling of nostalgia from the Academy grounds.

"Do you have a particular type of training in mind, or do you just want us to spar? We don't really know each others' fighting styles too much aside from what we discussed for ambushing Kakashi and most of that was planned anyway." Each of them stared at him and blinked, unsure of what to make of his questioning processes. He really seemed to come up with good questions when he actually cared about the subject.

"Well, I was planning on having you spar together and with me a little to get an idea of what needs work and so you can each get a feel for the others' fighting preferences. This will give me a better idea than your fight with Kakashi yesterday. Then we can work on missions a little better if we have an idea of who can play what roles. I won't know what fields to train you guys in until I know what you need work in." Kurenai wasn't sure of what to make of Naruto sometimes. Iruka had said she would never have his attention, but it was almost pathetically easy so far.

"That makes sense," he said, nodding. "I'm game when you guys are." He looked expectantly at each of them.

"Alright. I'll have you each go solo against me to get an idea of your skills up close and then we can see what to work on. Naruto, you're up first. All I want you to try and do is draw blood. Use anything you've got." The two went into the field several feet while Shino and Hinata stayed back to once again observe their blonde teammate.

Kurenai noticed Naruto frown and look at the ground in deep concentration for a moment. "What's the matter, Naruto? Don't want to fight me because I'm a girl?" Naruto was still staring at the ground and looked up at her with a shocked expression, but not noticing the glint in her eye that was practically daring him to answer incorrectly. She didn't really care for uptight males who thought women were inferior simply because they had different anatomies.

"No! No, not at all. I was just trying to make up my mind about something, but I think I've got an answer now," he said, taking his Kitsune stance. "I'm ready when you are, Sensei." What Kurenai wasn't aware of was that he hadn't thought about using the Sharingan in the fight and didn't know if he should as he hadn't thought about it until now. He decided he'd use it long enough to see if anything happened when they fought using taijutsu and then disable it. He didn't feel comfortable fighting against an ally using it. At least not until he decided exactly how he wanted to go about it. From Kakashi's file, he knew that Kakashi had no regard to friend or foe when learning something new and didn't know if he wanted to be like that. It seemed dishonest and wrong, even if it _would_ make him stronger and better for it as a ninja.

"Alright, here we go." With that, she came at him, going purely taijutsu for now. She would only match him in weapons and jutsu if he decided to go that route.

At first, he was easily dodging her strikes and blocking her kicks, making her speed up a bit to keep just ahead of him. She then stopped holding back as much and landed a punch on his gut, knocking him back a few inches as he leaned forward under the pressure of the strike before he twisted around her arm and fired a roundhouse to her side while her hand was still outstretched. Kurenai easily caught the kick and spun his leg around, forcing him to jump slightly off his one leg and rotate his body to keep the whole leg from popping out of the socket. As he did so, however, he brought his free leg up and attempted a swipe at her head, forcing her to let go and jump back a few feet.

Naruto landed on all fours and raised his hands, palms facing outwards and fingers bent into claws before rushing towards Kurenai, pushing chakra through his feet instinctively, remembering how too much chakra affected him while tree climbing. Rocketing forwards, he crossed his arms to block a punch from Kurenai and used his outer hand to swipe her arms to the side and punch forward, aiming for her nose, but hitting her instead on the shoulder at the collarbone as she dodged. The hit had only landed because his own Sharingan was active still, allowing him to notice her movements and correct his punch's direction just enough to score a hit. As her torso moved backwards slightly, he flipped in mid-air and kicked with both legs, pushing himself backwards where he flipped over the ground and several feet away. He had his information now. His Sharingan _would_ 'signal' him when he learned something, regardless of it being ninjutsu or taijutsu. That left one thing left that he would need to test; genjutsu. But how to get the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha to use one?

"Oi, Sensei," he said while making a kage bunshin who moved to the sidelines to watch with his Sharingan activated. "There's something I'd like to test. Can you try a genjutsu on me? Don't worry about the clone, he won't be doing anything other than observing." Needless to say, the request made her raise an eyebrow, but she decided to comply. Flashing through handseals while Naruto obviously watched, she assumed in an attempt to learn the jutsu, she gave him what he asked for, though probably more.

"Magen: Jubaku Satsu! (Demonic Illusion: Tree Bind Death)" Suddenly, Naruto saw plants sprout from the ground, growing in height and width and circle around him quickly, wrapping around his extremities even as his Sharingan signaled having memorized the jutsu, which he realized he could potentially perform now, depending on his chakra control for it. He was also aware that every bit of the plant was a light blue haze while the body was much like a shadow. Unsure of what to do, he simply applied a little more chakra into his eyes and was able to see through it as if it were mostly transparent. He could tell what it was supposed to be, but able to see Kurenai move and wrap up in a cocoon that sprouted from the ground, opening up to show she should be there anyway. As she came in for a punch, he dodged, seeing her look of surprise as she could tell the jutsu was still active and that he hadn't broken it since the link was still in place to let her know what exactly he saw, or was supposed to see as the case were, as she orchestrated it. She stopped being surprised, however, when his heel dropped onto her shoulder blade, where she had still been off center from her failed punch, causing her to fall to the ground.

Naruto jumped back several feet and disengaged his Sharingan now that he knew what he needed. He only briefly thought about turning it back on when a furious-looking Kurenai turned to look at him with venom in her eyes.

"I don't suppose you did that on purpose, hmm?" Her sickly sweet voice sent a shiver down Naruto's spine. Even though he was asleep, Naruto couldn't help but imagine a little chibi Kyuubi yelling at him to get the hell out of there.

"I needed to test myself against genjutsu! I swear I didn't plan on anything beyond that. The kick afterwards was just a lucky bonus!" Obviously the wrong thing to say. Naruto whimpered slightly as she came at him faster than she had before, though he wasn't sure if it was because the Sharingan was deactivated or if she just wanted him to pay in blood. She let loose a furious barrage of punches and kicks which he wasn't really able to dodge or block as much as he hoped he'd have been able to. It was only when he made several kage bunshin that the tables turned, so to speak. The real Naruto jumped back as his ten clones surrounded Kurenai and attacked together. After clearing his head, Naruto jumped back into the fray as several of his clones disappeared in smoke. After a few seconds, they all surprised Kurenai at the same time as they pulled out kunai and slashed, bringing a cut to her forearm and a stop to the fighting.

"Not bad Naruto. I'm not sure what took you so long to use them, but they helped out. Hinata, you're up!" As Kurenai got back into a ready stance, Naruto walked over to the edge as his clone disappeared. The rush of dispelled chakra made him unknowingly activate his own Sharingan for a few seconds as it settled before deactivating again. He decided he would go over his own observations after training with his new team today.

He watched as Hinata, just as in the Genin Selection Exams, seemed to hesitate in all of her movements and force herself to slow down a little. It was after he noticed that Kurenai was giving her several openings, rather than just simply fight, that he was able to tell that she was trying to get Hinata to fight more aggressively.

'I wonder why she would pull back like that. I mean, surely it isn't that she thinks she'll do too much damage to Kurenai-sensei... She's a Jounin for Kami's sake!' He pondered for a few seconds before realizing the truth. _'No, that isn't like Hinata... She's always been kind and gentle, even when the other students would laugh at me, she'd only do so when I was actually trying to get a laugh. She's too nice... she probably doesn't want to hurt Kurenai-sensei, even though she knows she can't.'_

He was broken from his musings as he noticed that Hinata had somehow opened up Kurenai's arm just by waving her hand over her arm. His eyes widened as he caught it. Before Kurenai could even congratulate Hinata, Naruto burst in enthusiasm.

"Oi! Hinata! That was so cool!" He was still looking at Kurenai's arm, trying to glean some sort of information as to how she accomplished the task and therefore missed the bright red she'd turned. "How did you cut Kurenai-sensei just by waving your hand over her arm?" He really wished he'd had his Sharingan active at the time.

"Ano, I- um. Well, N-Naruto-kun, I sharpened my chakra and f-forced it out of m-my hand." Kurenai smiled as she realized Naruto had just given Hinata more of a confidence boost than her own praise would have done. Though Hinata did seem rather flustered, causing her to stutter a bit more.

"You can ask her to show you the technique later, Naruto. Shino, you're up." Shino, mildly amused at his teammates' antics, walked stoically into the clearing to face off against Kurenai as Hinata walked towards Naruto to stand close, though not too close, to him, her fingertips pressing together over and over again furiously. She couldn't stop the awareness of Naruto's eyes locking onto her hands and Kurenai's arm and back again repeatedly.

'_He thought I was cool!'_ She happily watched him out of the corner of her eyes as he began to focus solely on Shino's fight. Shino had realized that this was more of a test for Kurenai to get an idea on where to begin with teaching them as a group, and had therefore not held back at all and attacked her full force, though without his Kikaichu bugs since they could open a wound on her at any time.

He decided to attack his sensei before she attacked him, getting a slightly raised eyebrow in the process. She dodged his straightforward punch to his right, only to be forced into the air as he used his own momentum to spin and attempt a roundhouse to her left side. After she jumped into the air, clearing his leg, he changed it into an ax-kick and propelled himself off the ground to follow her up, using her downward momentum thanks to gravity to try and take a swipe at her arm with a kunai.

Kurenai caught Shino's arm and tossed him behind her, only for the body to turn into a mass of bugs and begin crawling towards her quickly while the real Shino reappeared with a quick Kawarimi with some of the Kikaichu and swipe at her. His kunai stabbed nothing but air, however, as she swapped the both of them with a quick Kawarimi.

Deciding that she'd gauged his skill well enough, Kurenai slowed down just enough to allow his kunai to graze the back of her hand and draw blood.

"Excellent, Shino. That's enough." She watched as he instantly stopped and nodded before walking back to his teammates.

"Alright! Not bad. Your weaknesses are basically what we saw yesterday, so this didn't have to go on for too long. Though you seem to have improved a little, Naruto, since then until after the genjutsu." She decided to think on his embarrassed expression and sudden change in fighting later until she realized he was probably embarrassed that he made her mad and took a beating afterwards.

"For now, we're going to get some missions to do while I think up a decent training regimen for you three." Kurenai smiled as Naruto rocked back and forth on his heels as if he were a child expecting a present while Hinata smiled and Shino simply stood there. Boy would they be surprised when they found their mission statuses.

xXxXxXx

"Team Eight, reporting for duty, Hokage-sama," Kurenai greeted her leader behind his desk.

"Heya Old Man!" Naruto waved at the Hokage as he entered the room, going for his usual boisterous entrance.

"Naruto! Show some respect!" Iruka, who was helping hand out missions on the Genin teams' first day of shinobi life was both embarrassed for the blonde in front of him and angry at the same time. _'Doesn't that boy know when to show respect! This is the _Hokage _for Kami's sake!'_ Kurenai was thinking about having Hinata try and teach him proper etiquette some time very soon, unaware that Kyuubi had been teaching Naruto himself. Naruto simply chose to ignore them.

The Sandaime simply chuckled at Naruto's brashness. He truly appreciated the boy's attitude towards him. It felt good to have someone treat him like the person he was rather than by the position he held, sometimes.

"It's quite alright, Iruka. We have an agreement; he gets to call me 'Old Man' and I get to light his pants on fire." As if to prove his point, he channeled a little fire-nature chakra to his fingertip and smiled behind his pipe as Naruto paled and inconspicuously moved slightly to stand closer to the pale-eyed girl next to him.

"Oi! When did we agree to this!" Naruto felt like he'd missed something when the now '_scary' _old man behind the desk lit his pipe and chuckled.

"Naruto," Kurenai scolded, mortified at her Genin's behavior. She would make _very_ sure to teach him proper manners in the next couple of weeks. The Hokage merely waved his hand in the air before continuing. This was his favorite part.

"Team Eight, as a team most suited for tracking, you were my first pick for this mission," he was laughing evilly in his head, but remained as calm as possible outside as Naruto began to salivate at his opening line. Sweet Kami he loved being Hokage sometimes.

"This is a search and retrieval operation. You are to track your target and subdue without harming him in any way." Suddenly, the Hokage's expression darkened and his voice became grave while Kurenai had her face scrunched up, stifling tears and laughter. Iruka wasn't faring much better, but only Shino paid any attention to anyone other than the Hokage. "Be wary, however, for your target has ... _mauled_ ... other teams and left many horribly bloodied and in tears of pain. I suggest you take great care in this endeavor."

Kurenai had to turn her head to the side and step back a pace so her team wouldn't see her shake in controlled and silent laughter. The Hokage was laying it on thicker than she had anticipated, but _damn_ if it wasn't going to be worth it!

"Who is our target?" Shino's stoic and calm voice broke the silence that the Hokage's warning had left. Both Hinata and Naruto couldn't believe that they were being sent on such a mission for their first one. The Hokage silently slid a folder towards the three of them while Kurenai, realizing the answer was coming, quickly moved to where she could see their faces.

"Tora. The Feudal Lord's wife's cat." None were disappointed as Naruto face vaulted so harshly that he left an imprint of his face, and therefore his shocked expression, on the floor for future teams to marvel at. Hinata's eyes had simply widened while her left eyebrow twitched slightly and Shino quietly picked up the folder and began looking through it seemingly unaffected. The three adults began laughing rather loudly, with Iruka holding onto the desk for support, the Hokage actually dropping his pipe onto the desk and Kurenai resting her arms on her knees when Naruto fell.

"What was that, Old Man! Can't we go save some princesses or something!?" Naruto's rants had been drowned out by the three adult's laughter. He felt rather grumpy at this point as he realized the whole thing had been made to sound so good... only to be a cat... A BLOODY CAT! "Really, you can stop laughing now," he mumbled.

Kurenai began to push her team out the door now that they had their mission, still laughing along with the other two when Naruto called out one last message. "Oi! Old Man! Your pipe just set what looks like two or three hours' worth of paperwork on fire! Have fun!" He chuckled darkly as curses and a scream of "Suiton: Mizutama no jutsu (Water Release: Water bullet technique)," came muffled through the door.

"MY PAPERWORK!" The muffled sobs of an old man in distress was music to Naruto's ears.

xXxXxXx

Kurenai stayed well above her students in the branches of the trees as they scouted along the bottom for any signs of the wayward feline. Her amused high she'd received while in the Hokage's office had long since crashed as she had listened to Naruto mumble about all the build up the Hokage had given for their mission, only to be crushed as he'd learned it would be a cat to take his first real mission. She couldn't wait until he met Tora. He'd learn the truth soon enough.

"Two in position." Hinata's soft voice crackled over the comm-set attached to each member's ear and throat as she stood over top their query in the branches.

"Three in position." Naruto's own voice, uncharacteristically quiet, came next.

"One in position." Shino's stoic voice echoed last. They held their positions for a few moments before Kurenai's orders came through.

"Go." Immediately, Naruto summoned a small legion of clones to surround the cat and the area it was in to block off any escape. Each clone was shoulder to shoulder and three clones deep. Shino let a rush of his bugs cover the now freaking out cat and lift it into the air. With a smile, the real Naruto dispersed his clones and then grabbed the cat from the bugs.

"I don't see what the big deal w- AHHHHH!" The moment the cat had Naruto in it's sights, it became a blur of claws, even to their trained eyes, while Naruto grew more and more wounds on his face, arms and chest. "SOMEONE TAKE THIS BASTARD!" Hinata hurried over and took the cat before Naruto decided to hurt it. As soon as it was in her gentle arms, the cat settled and began to purr furiously, causing Hinata to smile gently at the ball of fluff in her arms until she felt killer intent coming from Naruto, making her step away from him and cradle the furred demon protectively in her arms.

"Naruto! Enough with the glares, let's get this mission finished and get paid, eh?" Kurenai watched Naruto carefully, half expecting him to rush the cat. She raised an eyebrow when she saw him instead make faces at the cat the entire way back to the Hokage tower.

'_What is it with this kid?'_ Kurenai led her team towards the Hokage tower, ready to put down their first D-rank mission into the books and check for any replies from the Jounin she'd left messages for.

xXxXxXx

Naruto fell heavily onto his couch, dressed in only his boxers and a short-sleeved shirt, ready to eat his cup of ramen. He'd taken a shower after his long day of D-rank missions with Team Eight and was exhausted. It wasn't really that the missions were difficult, by any means, but that they were so boring he'd become tired just from having to force himself to stick to them. He'd done them occasionally for the old man for extra spending money and he hated each one of them then, also.

As he leaned forward, he heard the crinkle of paper. Looking at the crevice between the cushion and the arm, he saw a small letter.

"Mm? What's this?" Looking, he was able to see that it was the letter Hinata had given to him just the day before. "Oh yea! I wonder what's in it..." He unfurled the letter to read it's contents.

_Uzumaki-san,_

_I know this is a bit abnormal, considering the history of both of us, but I felt I should tell you a few things. The first is that I know both of your biggest secrets and have no problems with either._

_Of your lineage, I was among those your father called 'friend'. As such, I could tell you a little about him, if you desire it. My door is open to you. To maintain the secrecy of your heritage, I was told you had died that night with your mother, but learned recently that you had not._

_Of your other secret, I know the differences between one and the other. I feel you can understand why I do not state it outright in this letter, but I offer my home, and my help, in telling your teammates of it if you would like the help. I understand that it is quite the personal circumstance, so feel free to do it in your own time, but I promise to be there to speak with Hinata should she not accept you afterwards, which is a result I highly doubt occurring. I feel confident she will accept you. I am afraid I cannot do the same with the Aburame on your team as it is not my place._

_I have asked Hinata to invite your team to our estate so that I can meet you for myself, as I only truly know you from the rumors and stories about the village, which I am told are mostly not true. Therefore, I wish to make my decisions._

_Hyuuga Hiashi_

_Clan Head of Hyuuga Main Family_

Extremely surprised by what the letter stated, he let it drop onto the table next to his ramen while he sat back and thought.

"Okay, so what does this mean? He knows about Dad. Not sure how, but okay, fine. He may be wrong, also, but not likely. The Hyuuga aren't known for making statements like that and being wrong. He also knows about Fuzzy, but that would be a given. He doesn't seem to hate me for it, though he does seem like he isn't sure if he should trust me yet. He also wants me to tell Hinata and Shino, but it seems he wants to help if I do that because he offered to help explain things. What is he wanting?" Getting confused about the obvious intent in the letter and any possible hidden meanings was beginning to get to Naruto. He was really beginning to wish Kyuubi were awake to help discuss it, but he wasn't likely to wake for another few days.

"Dad's letter didn't say anything about him, but it didn't really say anything about his friends beyond Jiraiya and that was more for help with training, so I doubt that's too big of a deal," he mused out loud. "But maybe I should at least hear what he has to say. Just like he wants to do with me, maybe I should make my own decision after actually meeting him." He looked down and reread the bit that mentioned Hinata inviting the team to her home and decided he'd simply accept when it came to it.

xXxXxXx

It was the next evening, after their D-rank missions were completed and their training done for the day that Naruto brought up the letter from Hiashi.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" Hinata turned towards Naruto while Shino gathered the shuriken and kunai laying about the field next to them and Kurenai watching over them, not leaving until they seperated.

"Yes, Naruto-kun?"

"I read the letter from your dad, and I just wanted to know if you could tell him thanks for me." Hinata wasn't sure of what exactly the letter had said, but Naruto was oddly serious while speaking. It was certainly enough to give her pause.

"I c-can do that, Naruto-kun," she said. And seeing her chance, decided this was one of the better opportunities she'd get for inviting the team over. "Ano... my father would l-like to know if you and the rest of the team would c-come to our home tomorrow for lunch." Hinata had made sure to speak up enough for Shino, who was only a few feet away, would easily be able to hear her. She was a little curious when Naruto seemed to think about it rather than just simply accept or decline until he seemed to nod to himself.

"Yea! I can do that. What about you Shino, Kurenai-sensei?" Shino nodded while Kurenai gave a more vocal affirmation.

"I don't see any problems with that." Naruto nodded and turned back to Hinata with a smile on his face. Agreements made, they split up for the day. Kurenai to go to the Hokage tower and check her box for replies from her contacts, Shino to go home, Naruto to train his water walking and Hinata to spend an hour watching him while she tried to figure out what the problem with his chakra was. She had only found a few things thus far, and none of it made any sense.

When Hinata finally made it home, she went to the kitchens to let the staff know that her team would be over the next day per her father's requests for lunch and they'd be joining him, then let her father know. She went to his private study and knocked, counting to the customary ten seconds before hearing his voice.

"Enter." She went in, closing the door behind her and sat on the pillow in front of his desk, waiting for him to speak. "What do you need, Hinata?"

"Naruto-kun," Hiashi fought the sudden sense of dread that came as her cheeks reddened slightly, "and the rest of my team have agreed to come for lunch tomorrow." He thought for a few moments before nodding, more to himself than Hinata.

"That should be fine. I will make sure the staff is aware that we will have lunch in the informal dining room. You may go now." Hinata wasn't sure which version of her father she was speaking to at the moment. He didn't seem harsh like the one side of him had a tendency to be, but he wasn't as kind as he seemed to be at other times. It was like a detached polite side of him that was short and to the point. Deciding to think it over while in private, she bowed and made her way to the Hyuuga library, where she'd been doing a lot of her studying of her observations of Naruto's chakra problems.

xXxXxXx

Naruto was more nervous now than he was even when speaking with Old Man Sarutobi after beating Mizuki-teme. He and the rest of Team Eight were only moments away from the Hyuuga estate, and he felt pent up energy surging through his body, making him want to make a very hasty escape. It really was too bad that he had already agreed to show up. And he was traveling with three other people who knew he was supposed to be arriving with them.

_'Damn it Kyuubi, how much longer until you wake up?'_ He was met with a yipping bark as Kyuubi snored, still slumbering away behind his seal. _'Aw crap...'_

They arrived at the gates and Hinata's favourite guards, Jin and Rein, were standing there, smiling as they watched her approach, already having been made aware that she was arriving with her new team by her father.

"Ah, hello Hinata-sama! Its so great-" Rein began.

"To see you arrive with your new team," Jin finished. Both were pleased to see her smile and still look amused by their antics.

"Hello, Jin-san, Rein-san."

"I am Hyuuga Jin and-"

"I am Hyuuga Rein. Its great to-"

"Finally meet Hinata-sama's teammates." Jin and Rein were both highly amused to see the Aburame and Hinata's sensei look pleasantly shocked by their antics, while the Uzumaki boy seemed overjoyed to have met them. If his happy and eager expression, along with a sparkle in his eye was anything to go by, then he was about as pleased with the situation as they were. They couldn't help, however, to feel as though they had just released something upon the people of Konoha.

"This is Kurenai-sensei, Shino and N-N-Naruto-kun." Suddenly, as her face flushed introducing Naruto to them, they now understood exactly why she was so pleased with her team selection when she had arrived the other day.

"It was nice to finally meet all of you and-"

"Hiashi-sama is awaiting you in the dining room." Rein and Jin watched as the group followed Hinata into the home before checking about themselves for any potential eavesdroppers.

"It would seem we found why Hinata-sama was so pleased with her new team."

"Yes. It would seem young Uzumaki has taken her heart." They were quiet for another brief moment while they considered what they had thus far witnessed.

"Are we agreeable to this? We all know of the stories and allegations against him," Rein stated.

"True, but at the same time, we know that many of them are false and only spread out because of those who wish him harm."

"That is true, but all of them?"

"Quite possibly. Of all the people in this village that we know and are willing to trust, not once has any of them seen the boy do anything he'd been accused of aside from steal food when he was younger, which we understand why that had happened." Jin himself had been interested in the Jinchuuriki a few years prior and had watched him. More often than not, he stayed out of people's way unless they hadn't allowed it.

"Yes, and his pranking, but that was always understandable as well."

"Not to mention funny," Jin added, quite pleased with many of the results of said pranking.

"True! Very true!" Rein himself laughed heartily as he remembered enough men running around with pink or purple skin to create a children's show.

"I believe, my dear Rein, that Hinata knows the boy best, and I would be willing to trust her judgement in him. She in incapable of caring for what they fear him to be." Rein nodded to Jin's words, believing them to be the final say in the matter. He was right, after all. Hinata, even as kind-hearted as she was, wouldn't care so deeply for the boy, were he truly a demon. After a few brief moments of silence, Rein spoke again, a slight frown of confusion on his face.

"Why do you think he was so pleased when he heard our greeting of Hinata-sama?" Jin put his fingers to his chin as he thought it over himself.

"I really don't know. For the two of us, it can be comical, but what could he truly do with it?" Unknown to the two of them, Naruto had thought up a very interesting prank with what he'd seen.

xXxXxXx

Hinata led the group into the main building of the Hyuuga estate and through a sitting room, down one wide hallway and into the informal dining room her father had already told her he'd wait in. As they entered, he stood and motioned for them to sit.

"Welcome to our home," he began. "I have asked Hinata to invite you over so that I may get to know her team as I have not met either of you," he said, indicating Naruto and Shino, "before. I would like to use this time to do so." Hiashi could tell Kurenai was watching his movements and most probably wary of his intent with Naruto, but made very sure to keep his actions and voice tone as hospitable as he could.

"We thank you for your invitation and are pleased to finally meet you," Naruto said. He was instantly aware of each member of his team, Kurenai included, whipping their heads to him and staring in open-mouthed shock. "Hey," he said shrugging, "just because I don't use them, doesn't mean I don't know them." Each was well aware he was referring to polite manners, but still couldn't believe he'd go this far. Hiashi could tell by their reactions that his manners a moment ago were not the norm.

"Please, Uzumaki-san. I would prefer that you be yourself here, today, as I am looking to get to know each of you for who you are." He watched as Naruto seemed to consider him before responding.

"Well... just so you know, a lack of respect tends to be a part of how I talk, so I apologize if any of it comes out." Hiashi was well aware of his lack of respect. But he was also able to tell that there were times where he did it more as a sign of actual respect than the disrespect it was to the eye. His constant disrespect to the Hokage was a prime example.

"I fully understand, Naruto-san." Hiashi gestured for them to seat themselves as the servants brought in a light meal of yakitori, salad, fruits and tea. Hiashi spoke with each of the team members, asking what seemed to be inconsequential topics, but still important enough to seem interested. They were actually questions where it wasn't so much the answer itself that was given, but the form the answer took and the expression on the one speaking. Those were the real answers.

"Naruto-san, where do you see yourself in ten years?" Hiashi watched Naruto as he seemed to eye him with suspicion for only a moment and then smiled. This told Hiashi he suspected people to try and trap him, but that he made his decisions quickly in regards to trust. Or maybe just what to say.

"Grow with my team, become the strongest kage ever and prove that myself and Ryoku," he grabbed his stomach in a subtle indication of exactly who he was talking about, "are different people." Hiashi was quite surprised that Naruto would so blatantly make reference to the Kyuubi, and even more so when Kurenai seemed to know precisely what he was talking about. Though Hinata and, he suspected as he couldn't really tell, Shino as well didn't know what he was talking about, though they remained quiet on the matter. Hiashi nodded as if what Naruto said was perfectly normal and then asked Shino a question, alternating between the two and occasionally Kurenai to keep them all pulled into the conversation.

He was moderately interested to note that Naruto made a point of speaking to Hinata while he spoke with either Kurenai and Shino or there was simply a lull in the conversation, in which case, he'd bring Shino in on it as well. He couldn't tell if the boy was simply nervous or if he was just actually that interested in talking with her. The father in him wanted the throttle the boy's neck while the clan head in himself was glad that she was keeping their guests entertained as was her role as heiress. _'If the boy so much as looks in the wrong place or touches anything...'_ He silently thought about what the Jyuken taijutsu style could do to the human anatomy.

It was a touch over an hour later, well after the servants had cleared the table, that Kurenai caught the queue she'd been waiting for.

"We thank you for the generous invite, Hiashi-sama. But now that we've eaten and our food has had a chance to settle, we really must get to our missions for the day." All stood and made their farewells, Hiashi keeping Naruto back a few moments.

"Namikaze-san, I only wanted to say that I am willing to discuss your father with you if you ever find yourself wishing to hear about him. As the Yondaime, your father," neither heard the quiet gasp from the other side of the wall, "had many friends and many enemies. I'm pleased to be able to say I was among the first group, and could tell you of a few things whenever you have the time." Naruto nodded.

"Thank you." He turned to leave, their observer already gone, and met his team in the hall. As they were leaving, they came across three of the Hyuuga Councilmen walking towards the dining room where they intended to meet with Hiashi. As they walked past, the one in the center made a disgusted snort of contempt.

"It seems Hiashi is allowing anyone onto the Hyuuga grounds, these days." The two men behind him chuckled as Naruto's face turned red, along with that of Kurenai's. They didn't slow as they walked, as if ignoring them beyond taking notice that they were there and mocking them.

"If the disgrace made it onto a team, of course he will let them follow her home like lost puppies." The men laughed while Hinata let out a short whimper as she realized they were speaking about her. They were merely going to ignore the men as they passed, but the moment Naruto heard Hinata make that sound and seem to shrink in on herself, his naturally protective side emerged.

"Oi, you bastards! Don't talk about Hinata-chan that way!" The three men looked at Naruto with disdain as Kurenai attempted to quietly get Naruto's attention to shut him up. Inside the dining room, Hiashi heard Naruto's exclamation and sighed heavily.

"Listen here, de-brat! We're Elders on the Hyuuga Council. We can talk about whoever we want, however we want! And if we say that disgrace is just that, then she is! We don't need some little brat telling us our place!" Naruto grinned at the man in a method not unlike he'd seen Kyuubi do before responding.

"Just remember Karma, you bastard. What goes around comes around." Hiashi, who'd been listening in on the other side of the wall decided it would be a good idea to intervene before Kashu got stupid and tried anything. He stepped out to see the man stepping towards Naruto, who looked pleased beyond belief the man was attempting to do so, before Hiashi stopped whatever was about to happen.

"Kashu. Enough of this." The three Hyuuga Elders turned to look at Hiashi standing in the doorway before scowling back at Naruto and continuing into the dining room. After they entered, Hiashi nodded towards Team Eight. "I apologize for their actions. I'll be sure to handle them. Have a good day." He noticed Naruto seemed to glare through the wall and was sure that, if he had one, his Byakugan would be active at that moment.

"My duty is to protect my teammates, Hiashi-sama. I will destroy anyone who attempts to harm them._ We _will destroy anyone who attempts to harm them. " Hiashi saw Naruto's conviction shining in his eyes as he spoke and understood the underlying message; 'Kyuubi is just as willing'. Yes, he was quite willing to give the boy a chance. He bowed his head as a sign of understanding and turned on his heel to go back into the dining room.

The group left to take care of their missions, Hinata pleased that Naruto wanted to defend her while being sad that they would say those things, Naruto plotting revenge already, Shino wondering why they would say things about their heiress and Kurenai simply sad that Hinata was forced to go through all that. By all accounts, there was going to be a very one-sided war in Konoha soon, and the only victims were going to be the over inflated pride of many of Konoha's citizens.

xXxXxXx

**A/N** –** For a more visual aspect of Naruto's new eyes**, imagine blue circles for the iris (coloured part of an eye) with a black oval in the center like a cat (or Kyuubi in this case for his own personal touch, but only slightly elongated so as not to be too noticeable.) Now, on the top of the pointed oval pupil, there is a very small and circular hook going up and around to the right much like a fish hook or reverse of a question mark ( ? ). There are two others on the bottom. The one on the right points to the right whereas the one of the left points to the left instead. While Naruto is simply himself, these are blue eyes and black pupils. When channeling Kyuubi, the eyes will be red instead of blue, and the pupils will be black but the hooks will be his usual blue with the oval pupil being blue along the outside edge only. Should he gain the fourth stage, or Mangekyo Sharingan, the pupils will become silver while in the Mangekyo stage and glow while Kyuubi-fied.

Yes, the end of this chapter and starting next chapter will be my own, personally-created arc, but will NOT take the place of Wave. I just don't want my story to follow every predictable arc you see in the fandom these days. This personally-created arc serves a few purposes. One, I want more time to exist between team formations and the Chuunin exams, which I will explain why later or it will ruin that aspect.

The second reason is to help advance the Naruto/Hinata relationship and the final reason is that it will serve as a catalyst. You can probably guess as to what for, or figure it out when the time comes, but I won't say what the catalyst is until the end of that particular chapter (probably 2-3 chapters from now as I write this.) I had originally had another arc I created, but decided to switch them around as this works much better, and will put a little humor between the Chuunin exams and when Sasuke is supposed to defect so the story isn't one long and continuous angst-filled plot after another or anything.


	5. Of Seals, Training and Hormones?

Adaptation

Chapter5- Of Seals, Training and ... Hormones?

Ship- Naruto/Hinata

Author: Paladeus

Key: "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

xXxXxXx

**Author's Note:** Quick note! There is mentioning of adult-themed material in this chapter. Nothing explicit or overly bad, just alluding to the fact that a dream had taken place. This material, in the world of movies rated by US standards and such, would be rated PG-13 (meaning the census bureau believes that it is socially acceptable for children 13 or over, in general, with the content based on parental discretion.) It is also only a few sentences long. Just a warning that it exists.

**Recommended Story of the Chapter:** "Uzumaki of the Whirlpool" by RaiderXV

xXxXxXx

**Previously:**

"_My duty is to protect my teammates, Hiashi-sama. I will destroy anyone who attempts to harm them. We will destroy anyone who attempts to harm them. " Hiashi saw Naruto's conviction shining in his eyes as he spoke and understood the underlying message; 'Kyuubi is just as willing' Yes, he was quite willing to give the boy a chance. He bowed his head as a sign of understanding and turned on his heel to go back into the dining room._

_The group left to take care of their missions, Hinata pleased that Naruto wanted to defend her while being sad that they would say those things, Naruto plotting revenge already, Shino wondering why they would say things about their heiress and Kurenai simply sad that Hinata was forced to go through all that. By all accounts, there was going to be a very one-sided war in Konoha soon, and the only victims were going to be the over inflated pride of many of Konoha's citizens._

xXxXxXx

The following two weeks had been filled with as much training as Naruto could get in with his new eyes and making his most elaborate prank ever for the Hyuuga on his bad side. Early mornings, he would go out to training ground eight, or one of his own favorite training grounds if he didn't have to meet his team that day, and train as much as he could. His days were filled with roughly five hundred clones to work on anything he had been able to get his hands on, most of which came from the Forbidden Scroll or the Rasengan directions left to him by his father and five to sit at his apartment and come up with ideas and plan everything together.

He had been able to learn a select few jutsu from the Forbidden Scroll he had copied, all of which were the variations on the Kage Bunshin technique he had already learned and the Kauntakachuu technique, but wasn't able to get them to work most of the time, aside from the Kage techniques, and the Kauntakachuu technique hadn't even come close to doing anything resembling the actual technique itself.

The Rasengan he had finally taken to the final stage and was able to make it work if he was using Kyuubi's chakra, but was only on the second stage with his own chakra, though he _was_ nearing the end of that stage. Sadly, Kyuubi altered his original requirements and Naruto had to rely only on his own power for the Rasengan before he would be allowed to look at the Hiraishin no Jutsu.

Naruto was a little upset that he hadn't been able to get more standard jutsu to work on beyond what he had copied from the scroll, and he wasn't really wanting to try his luck at the Shinobi Library again. They never let him in while in the Academy, and would be less inclined to do so now. They would just call for the ANBU as soon as they saw him coming, just like the last two times, even if he tried to use a Henge, as it seemed the librarians were taught to detect such things in case of foreign shinobi. But he had a plan to take care of this one. He just had to come up with a way to make it work, and maybe with more than one target. He had been wracking his brain for months on how to get into the library, even if not the Shinobi section, then at least the areas that would help him with his school work and when he'd met Jin and Rein, he had finally figured out the best way to do it.

Of the two weeks doing their missions, they'd had to track down Tora at least eleven times, even having gone up to three times one day, though Naruto suspected it was in retaliation for the fire mishap during their first briefing. He just couldn't prove it. They had finished thirty-one D-rank missions at the end of the two weeks, doing several each day while finishing them quickly during the second half of each day while the first was set to be used for any training.

xXxXxXx

"Alright, guys. That's the last mission for today. I've finally managed to get in touch with a few friends and they're all in Konoha at the same time, so I've got some things to try and work out with them that may help with your training, so you have all got the rest of today off," Kurenai said.

"We'll meet on Ground Eight tomorrow at the usual time and see what our next step will be. Any of you got any questions?" Kurenai received a series of negatives so she nodded and left. Shino merely nodded to his team and began to walk home, having his own plans for the evening, and wanting to use any additional time he may have for those plans. Naruto and Hinata turned to each other since they were the last two outside the tower from the briefing.

"Well Hinata-chan, I'm going to try and get the water walking exercise down again, so I'll see you tomorrow, ne?" Hinata, seeing her chance to try and put what information she'd learned from her clan library decided this was the perfect opportunity to help him out.

"Ano, um... Naruto-kun. The Hyuuga are taught very strict... chakra control exercises from a very young age. I... may be able to help you." Hinata was very proud of herself for no longer stuttering, though she did feel she had to work on the hesitation in her sentences now. Naruto, however, didn't even notice her lack of stuttering this time, even if he had noticed it getting less intense. He was merely a little surprised he hadn't thought to ask her for her help before. But should he ask her to take time away from her own free period when they were given nearly an entire day off?

"**Let her help you, Kid. It'll be a good way to get to know your new teammate even better and she can give you individual instruction on the water walking exercise. It certainly can't hurt."** Again, like at the ramen stand after Naruto graduated, he failed to mention the large amount of pheromones pouring off the shy girl in waves. There wasn't any reason that he couldn't try to help his vessel find a suiting mate, was there? She obviously liked him, which would only increase as teammates, and he didn't _dislike_ her, though he had no immediate thoughts of girls, so it shouldn't be overly difficult, especially when he could work on Naruto's noticing the cute girl. No, it would be proving himself the alpha male of the team to the Aburame that he'd have to tell Naruto how to handle. That, and marking the young Hyuuga as his own.

'_What are you thinking about you crazy-ass fox? I can feel you plotting something! And why have you been trying to get me to ask her for so much help on chakra?'_ Naruto fully agreed with what the Kyuubi had told him, but at the same time, there was a strange sense of satisfaction coming off the overgrown ball of fluff that made him cautious. There was absolutely nothing wrong with a little paranoia, after all.

"**I'm just happy that we'll finally get a good chance of getting this exercise out of the way! It's as much of a pain in the ass to me as it is to you. More so even, considering I don't get to do anything but watch you stand on water."**

'_Oh, sorry, Kyuubi. I didn't really think about that. Alright, off we go!'_ The Kyuubi knew his container wasn't stupid, but at the same time, he was such a dense human that it made him want to break down and cry sometimes.

"Alright, Hinata! Are you sure you are okay with using up your free time to help me with this," he asked. He wanted to make sure she realized she had an out in case she changed her mind.

"Yes, Naruto-kun." Had she not been on missions with him, or seen him spar and using the technique, she'd have made sure he could use the tree-climbing exercise, but she knew he was really quite familiar with it, even applying it to inanimate objects for traps he had set up for Tora. Attaching that steak to the cat's back and chasing it towards the Inuzuka compound, while not exactly a smart idea, _was_ proof that he had that concept down. It wouldn't have been a problem if the cat hadn't run after they had caught her.

The two had begun walking towards one of Naruto's favourite training grounds while Naruto described his problem, unaware Hinata had watched him on several occasions. Hinata pretended not to be familiar with the path they were taking while trying her best not to think too hard on being alone with Naruto.

The two arrived in the very same wooded area that Hinata had followed him to the first time. The only real difference is that a good many of the trees further into the woods were heavily scarred from his Rasengan training.

"Okay, Naruto-kun... Please... Show me what happens while you walk on the water. I would," here, her cheeks blushed lightly and Kyuubi bit his tail to muffle the perverted giggle that wanted to escape his mouth as he sensed the increased levels of pheromones, "like to... observe you." Naruto, noticing the blush, but not paying any real attention as she's done that quite a bit when around him, simply nodded and stepped to the side of the small stream, taking off his jacket and sandals without noticing Hinata blush or her small smile.

He stepped up and performed a seal, not using Kage Bunshin until after he'd heard Hinata's advice. Naruto gathered chakra in his feet and began pumping chakra as he walked over top of the water. By the third step, he'd tuned out Hinata and the rest of the world and concentrated only on his chakra and the water. He stood out on the water, taking occasional steps for practice for several minutes until he was shocked out of his concentration by Hinata's soft voice describing his chakra flow. His surprise cost him his not-so-sure footing and he sank into the water with a yelp and splash. Hinata winced as he came out of the water with a gasp. Her wince turned into a gasp when she saw him come out of the water with his shirt stuck to his chest and abs where she could see the outline of his already well-developed muscles. A slight growl came out of the back of her throat before she shook her head and glanced around quickly as if looking for anyone who may have seen or heard her.

_'Abs ... camera,' _she thought, taking occasional and quick glances at Naruto as he stepped out of the water, '_tranquilizers...' _

xXxXxXx

"Kurenai, are you really serious about this?" Sarutobi Asuma twirled an unlit cigarette in his mouth as he watched the other Jounin's reactions to the woman's suggestions. He had to admit, some of them made quite a bit of sense, but others were just rather odd. Several of the gathered Jounin were among the best in their fields, but not all had teams that could gain anything from this set-up. Several of those, however, were willing to do this simply to be able to teach. Unknown to all of them, the Sandaime Hokage had gotten wind of this particular meeting and was watching the whole thing in his crystal scrying ball.

"I am. We all know that we are the among the best in our respect fields. I specialize in genjutsu, Gai in taijutsu, Kakashi even rivals Sandaime-sama in ninjutsu. It's stupid of us to be blinded by our pride," here she looked primarily at Kakashi, "and teach something that we are not particularly gifted at. I'm proficient at taijutsu, but my students would learn from Gai's tutelage far better than my own."

"None of us are doubting that particular aspect, Kurenai, but having our teams _ambush_ each other? Isn't that a little ... how should I put this," Kakashi struck a thinking pose before looking at her and smiling behind his mask, "idiotic?" Kurenai fumed behind her outwardly calm expression. Naruto had expressed his happiness at the Genin mission she'd put her team on for a full week afterwards, even explaining how it gave them a taste of what they may do in the future with both teammates agreeing, though less enthusiastically, which is what gave her this idea, but she had a feeling Kakashi had strong doubts in his own team's abilities. Everyone knew that his team only passed because the Village Council forbade him from failing the last Uchiha.

"I detect a sliver of doubt in your team, Kakashi. Are you still upset that my team, on their first day together, were able to ambush you and take your precious _Icha Icha Paradise_ book?" She allowed the smile that tugged at her lips to fully blossom as she saw his visible face redden in embarrassment. "I still have the book, you know. Agree to this, and I'll even give it back to you." The congregated Jounin all chuckled as they recalled how furious Kakashi had been the day after the trials. Even the Sandaime had congratulated Kurenai on the results while Kakashi kept saying that he knew it was a test and went easy on them. While true, all knew it was because he'd underestimated Team Eight.

"Really, the idea isn't as far fetched as you would initially think. The odds of getting ambushed on a mission are actually very good. My team in particular can use the tracking and ambushing practice, while all of yours can use the experience of evading such attacks and it certainly isn't a bad idea to allow your teams the chance to learn to ambush their enemies as well. Can any of you tell me that this is actually a bad idea?" She looked around as the other Jounin looked at the others for their own thoughts. Many seemed to believe she had the right of things.

"They could get hurt in these mock ambushes you have got set up," Kakashi stated while reading his newly-acquired_ Icha Icha Paradise _book, though this one didn't have the author's signature behind the cover. Kurenai nodded while allowing each of those present to let his comment sink in.

"You're right. They could. However, it is just as likely that they could get hurt out on missions where they come across situations they are unfamiliar with and may not have the best reaction times or abilities. These mock ambushes would allow them to learn how to react to these situations in a controlled environment and exchanging teams to learn each of our preferred fields is one of the best ways I could think of for our students to learn the various aspects of becoming practical and useful ninja." She could tell that she was getting to the others. Kakashi was the only one who was apparently against this at the moment and she suspected that was because his pride was still hurting.

'_Damn men and their ego's! Why the hell can't they see things more like women?' _Kurenai would have continued ranting in her mind had she not realized that she'd just thought of a rather wonderful genjutsu._ 'Maybe making a man think he's got a woman's body isn't ethically acceptable, but at least it will be funny...' _She quietly chuckled as she thought of how to make it work out without being too obvious.

"I like this idea, Kurenai! Perhaps we should decide who wants to help in this endeavor you've created! I am more than happy to take on our more youthful students and teach them the joys of taijutsu!" Gai struck a nice guy pose while the others shuddered. It wasn't so much how he was saying what he was, frightening as it may be, but that each of them knew what he'd subject the unsuspecting Genin to.

xXxXxXx

"So," Naruto began, scratching his head, "you're saying that my chakra doesn't flow at a steady rate, but quicker and that there are 'pulse-like' bits that are basically concentrated chakra that go through my chakra circulatory system?" Hinata nodded as she sat on a fallen tree trunk from one of Naruto's rasengan training sessions before he realized that switching trees after a few Rasengans would be a good idea.

"Yes, Naruto-kun. I... noticed your chakra had brighter patches in it. I looked it up... in the Hyuuga archives and found that brighter chakra is... concentrated chakra. So... when you use your chakra... these patches add extra chakra to your jutsu. So, it basically overpowers the jutsu that use... less chakra to work."

"I think I understand."

"**You may not, gaki, but I do. I'm going to need to do some examination of this seal to figure out exactly what it is, but I have a pretty good idea. If it is what I think it is, I'll let you know and see if I can work on it." **Kyuubi answered in a voice that made Naruto question the fox's abilities. He sounded rather intrigued. **"For now, I would talk with her about what she knows about chakra compression, density and regulation."**

_'You mean, you want me to basically talk with her about chakra in general?'_ Naruto sweat dropped as Kyuubi blinked behind his cage.

"**Uh, yea. Basically."** Naruto mentally shook his head while he turned his attention back to Hinata, not realizing the fox just wanted Naruto to spend more time with the girl. He knew she was powerful, and would be a good mate for the boy. He just had to get Naruto to consider it, now.

"Alright, Hinata. So what do you know about brighter chakra and dimmer chakra and things like that?" Naruto watched as Hinata seemed to redden slightly under his gaze and recognized a scent that seemed to emanate from her at times like this, only becoming more frequent and more powerful. He wasn't sure what exactly it was, but he found himself enjoying the scent when it happened, even to the point where he would offer to spend time with her just to try and figure it out. Over the past week and a half, he'd noticed his senses becoming more acute and had attributed the pleasant scent to that. He wasn't aware that the fuzzball had left part of the link between the two of them open and been increasing his strength, senses and over all abilities, allowing him to begin smelling her attraction to him. Kyuubi was working to make sure Naruto would notice women, this one in particular, and had several plans on how to work on him throughout the nights as well.

"Well, Naruto-kun, a person's chakra should all be... the same brightness, but your chakra has those pulses in it where the chakra is much more potent. It is only known to happen when ... giving chakra to another person who has suffered from extreme chakra exertion." Naruto frowned the slightest bit as he heard Hinata's description.

"So, you mean it kind of happens when foreign chakra is introduced to someone's chakra system?" Hinata nodded, pleased that he understood.

"Yes, Naruto-kun. The mix of the original chakra, and the natural pulsing of the offered chakra make the two become denser as they merge. But... because they are different, the chakra doesn't always fully become one stream. What is happening to you is like that... but only with one chakra source." Hinata hung her head low. "I have not been able to find precedence for something like this occurring within a single person without that foreign chakra being given. I am... sorry Naruto-kun." Naruto could see her sadness at not being able to help him. It was such that he almost felt he could actually smell it from her also. He reached back and scratched his head as he smiled brightly at her.

"Hey! No worries, Hinata-chan! It actually makes a lot of sense! I have a good idea of what's going on, and think I can work it out. You wouldn't believe how much knowing this is going to help, I promise!" Hinata looked up to see Naruto smiling and felt instinctively that he was telling the truth and it warmed her to know she was able to help him, even if she wasn't sure exactly how.

"Hey, Hinata. Now that I know about that, I'll have to work a little on the problem, so there's no point in doing the exercise at the moment. Would you like to have a spar or go get some ramen? My treat!" Hinata watched as he put his hand to his stomach and felt it was a hint of his own decision, even if it was actually where he was already trying to think a little over what he'd just learned.

"Ramen sounds... good, Naruto-kun, thank y- Eep!" She was abruptly cut off as Naruto grabbed her by the hand and ran towards Ichiraku Ramen as if the Shinigami was hot on his heels.

xXxXxXx

"Please, hurry! They're almost here! We have to get to get out of here quickly!" A dark-haired woman with small pig cradled in her arms was quickly pushing a rather large-chested blonde woman through the door of their shared hotel room on the fourth floor. On ground level, there were five men rushing into the building, intent on finding the two of them.

"Oh, come on, Shizune! You know as well as I do that I can take them out! Can't I just do it this once, please?" The blonde-haired woman nearly begged for a chance to hurt the men coming up for them.

"No! They're only after us because you stole ran out without paying your debts! If you-" she was cut off by a few quiet thumps as something soft fell from the blonde's pockets. Shizune's eyes widened and her yell alerted everyone within the city about their new plight. "YOU STOLE THEIR WALLETS TOO! TSUNADE-SAMA! HOW COULD YOU!" She was answered by a slightly nervous laugh and the blonde woman scratching the back of her head, her nervous grin so large that her eyes closed from her cheeks pushing upwards.

"Eheh, sorry?" Tsunade didn't appear overly sorry as she quickly stuffed the wallets back into her own pocket and quickly left a stunned Shizune in the room before the dark-haired woman realized she had been left behind.

"HAVE YOU NO DECENCY!"

xXxXxXx

Jourei crawled on the floor towards the man who was laughing as he grabbed his daughter out of her bed as she screamed at the unknown man. He didn't know what they wanted, but there were very few things a grown man may want with a seven-year old girl, and certainly, none of them were good.

"Please! Please, take whatever you want! Just leave my family alone!" Jourei wasn't sure where his wife or two-year old son was in all of this, but he knew this man hadn't come alone. He stopped crawling and began to cry softly as the man in front of him hit his daughter's neck, causing her to slump unconsciously in his arms before turning to him.

"These are your instructions. You are to go to Konoha, and you are going to hire a Genin team to search for your daughter. You will tell them that she has a tendency to get lost in the forest and you will endeavor to get a Hyuuga as well. Should you fail to get a Hyuuga or should you alert Konoha to this in any way, your little girl here will be killed at the first sign of betrayal. Otherwise, she will be treated very well."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Jourei watched as the man holding his daughter sneered at him.

"You can't you pathetic Konoha trash! But this is the only option you have! We have no desire to harm the girl, only get the Hyuuga. Do you understand," Tekouri paused as one of his men brought in his wife, "or do you need an example?" Jourei's eyes widened at the insinuation and he quickly shook his head.

"No. Please, leave them be! I'll do anything you want, just please don't hurt them!" Tekouri grinned as over a years' worth of planning began to come to fruition.

"Go to Konoha in two days and explain that your daughter ran off into the forest again and hasn't come back. Explain that she doesn't trust many men and is afraid of dogs due to an attack when she was younger and that she tends to find little places where she fits into to hide. That should help you get the one we seek. And remember, if Konoha sends anything stronger than Genin or if we feel you've alerted them to what is really going on, then your daughter dies and we may very well come back for you."

"I will do what you say! Please..." He began to crawl towards them again before the man snatched up his daughter and quickly left out the front door, his comrade leaving his wife on the floor where he dragged her in and following suite. Jourei quickly went over to his wife and made sure she was still alive before clutching her to his chest and crying.

xXxXxXx

_'So, you mean you think that your chakra is mixing with mine, but it isn't doing so like the seal is supposed to,'_ Naruto asked Kyuubi after getting the explanation from the fox. He'd had a pleasant lunch with Hinata where he continuously tried to figure out that scent that he'd been noticing coming from her more and more while attempting to remain in the conversation he tried to hold with her. He'd left her over two hours ago and had since been reading until Kyuubi had finally interrupted him with news.

"**Yes. You see, the seal is meant to slowly take my power from me and give it to you until either there is no more, or one or both of us die. However, because of my strength,"** Naruto couldn't help but notice that Kyuubi seemed a little proud of this, though it was exactly what was causing the trouble in the first place, **"several other seals were needed in order to make the whole thing work properly. There are purification seals so my youki doesn't turn you, limiter seals, so I can't take control if possible and you can't take more than you can handle, alignment seals for allowing our chakras and energies to merge and actually work together and then the seal that holds me here in the first place, which is the one with the problem. Because of all of these, once the true seal was activated, the others were doing their job as they were meant to, but they didn't adapt to the change in the Shiki Fuuin. So they are still controlling the seal as it was before it activated."**

_'So, in other words, they're doing their job too well?'_

"**Not exactly, but close enough, yes. They are doing their job, but not well enough, in this case. They should have adapted since their foundation seal, or the Shiki Fuuin, altered, but they remained as they were. So, technically, they are doing their _previous_ jobs too well."**

_'Ah, they were supposed to be amorphous, or able to change, but are static, or staying as they were when created, yes?'_ Kyuubi was very happy that Naruto was able to follow what he was saying, but sometimes, he wished he hadn't learned as much as he had about sealing techniques. Naruto was just happy to be able to use the bigger words he'd learned from the seal scrolls.

"**Exactly. They should have allowed more of my power to come out but are still allowing only the trickle you could handle as an infant."**

_'So, what can we do about this?'_ Naruto could tell that they would have to either alter the seals or simply get rid of some from his knowledge about seals, but he didn't know nearly enough to do the job needed.

"**Well, we have three options. Option one is to leave it as it is, and just over power any jutsu you use if it would allow it, but that also means you could run out at some point, even when you shouldn't normally. Option two is to find the best seal master we can and have them take care of it while hoping they don't just simply kill us and option three would be to make the changes needed ourselves."**

_'What! You may have the knowledge, but I _don't!_ And I would be the one that has to make this changes and-'_

"**Do you trust me, Naruto?"** The question silenced Naruto as if he'd suddenly run out of air. It wasn't so much the question itself, either. But the fact that the Kyuubi seemed to truly care about the answer. It was impossible for Naruto to not feel the demon's unease. He truly wanted to know.

_'Of course I do, Ryoku,'_ he answered using Kyuubi's true name, feeling it necessary as a sign of the friendship they had created up to this point. It was as Kyuubi had told him when he learned of the name, he was the first human in a very long time to learn of it. _'But how can I be sure I won't mess this up and kill myself or you? Or do something wrong and make things worse?'_

"**That's what I'm trying to say. The changes can be made from within. You control the seal in its entirety. How much power of mine you're able to get, what kind of control I get when I take over, or even none at all and how much control. You can make these changes and not make any physical alterations to the seal itself. Even the sewer mindscape you see when you come here is because of your own choices. Your strength of mind controls all of it."**

_'Oh...'_ Naruto suddenly felt rather stupid. He hadn't known of any seals that could be altered in such a method, but was willing to trust the voice in his head, even if he _did _wonder why that statement sounded so wrong._ 'How long will this take?'_

"**As long as it does. Willing to give it a shot? We've got more time from this evening and tonight than we may have for some time."** Naruto thought for only a moment before shrugging to himself.

_'Lead on, oh fearless leader!'_ Kyuubi snorted in response before bringing Naruto into his own mindscape.

xXxXxXx

Shino sat uncomfortably on a couch next to Teksewa Shiya, a potential arranged marriage that his parents were contemplating for him. It wasn't so much that they were calmly discussing his future wife's qualities in front of him and her, or that he was being used as a bartering tool for that matter, but that he was thirteen and sitting across from a fifteen year old woman who was was rather happy with the idea of marrying Shino, and constantly pushing her modestly-developed chest out because she liked watching him squirm. Yes, it was the fact that the girl was teasing him mercilessly. It probably wouldn't have been a problem for the usually stoic boy if it didn't make memories of Naruto's plan against Kakashi surface. Somehow, though he knew Naruto had nothing to do with it directly, he couldn't help cursing Naruto's name.

_'Naruto-san ... Our next sparring session, I'm kicking your blonde ass...'_

xXxXxXx

Naruto, roughly twenty minutes into working within the mindscape alongside Kyuubi, suddenly sneezed, causing everything he'd done up to this point falter and collapse, causing the representations to the seals to fall back into their original forms.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Kyuubi blinked at the seals and Naruto as the blonde boy continued to curse.

"**You aren't even supposed to be _able _to sneeze in here... You have no body..."**

"Well, apparently you can! DAMNIT!" The two got back to work, Naruto cursing a few last times in quick succession to get them out of the way so he could concentrate again. Kyuubi was slightly worried since the results of the strange sneeze that shouldn't exist could have been disastrous has they been too much further into their task.

xXxXxXx

Shiya's own family worked alongside other insects much like the Aburame, but nowhere near the same level. They were master breeders who were able to succeed in altering strains of insects where all others, including the Aburame, failed and were able to coexist with them while providing a haven for them and providing food and such rather than simply their bodies. It was almost assured that, with the joining of the two families, both would benefit with the blending of the Aburame Kikaichu and the Teksewa insects to create hybrids that would be impervious to most of the elements and eventually, more maneuverable in the air.

"So we have selected the final details of the marriage proposal. We shall deliberate with the Aburame elders and see if they, too, accept the details. Should all go well, then the proposal shall go through as agreed. Otherwise, we will come to your home for the final agreements. Is this acceptable?"

"Yes," Meika, Shiya's mother stated. "And should either family, or either of the betrothed decide they would prefer to not complete the arrangement, they need only say as much along with their reasoning, yes?" Shibi nodded and wondered about the arrangement, but felt it a rather good option to have. At least it was a safe out that provided for either child's decision to marry for themselves rather than their clan.

"Correct. As beneficial as this arrangement is, it must be their own decisions." Final pleasantries and farewells given, the Teksewa family left. Once gone, Shibi turned to Shino. "What do you think of the Teksewa, Shino?" Shibi was forced to remain quiet as Shino contemplated his answer.

"The arrangement would be a good one for both families. They are an honorable clan and she is nice, though more expressive than I'm used to," he blushed slightly behind his collar as he remembered Shiya's actions. He couldn't figure out if she was simply that happy about the arrangement or if it was something else, though he was beginning to lean towards the latter. His parents caught his embarrassment, however.

"Yes, they are. But then, it could simply be that we are not used to that form of expressive behavior since we must keep our emotions in check at all times in fear of losing control of our colonies," Ami said while giving a very pointed look towards Shibi who sighed heavily.

"Shino," he began, sounding as nervous as he felt, "it has come to my attention that there are certain ... _talks_ that I have yet to have with you." Shino's posture went ramrod straight and his eyes began to look around for possible escape venues and his mind processed the odds of escape. "Shino, there comes a time in a man's life when he meets a woman that he feels ... _more_ than simple affection or friendship for..." Inwardly, Shino was screaming about injustices.

xXxXxXx

Hinata sat in her clan library, looking over scrolls once again in an attempt to find something help Naruto with his chakra problems. At first, she was hesitant about looking any more information up when he said he had a good idea of what the cause was, but he'd asked her so many questions, most of which she was able to answer, that she hoped she would be able to answer his questions again in the future should he ask them of her. Admittedly, though, she hoped that she could find the answer and give it to him as well.

She didn't know it, but each time she came to the library, she was watched by her father. Originally, he had come to berate her for skipping out on her training, but that idea had stopped before it had even fully matured in his mind when he saw her arms loaded with scrolls about multiple chakra conditions and manipulations. He had watched for an hour as she filtered through scroll after scroll and making her own notes on a blank scroll she'd brought with her. It hadn't taken him too long to figure out she was focusing her research on compression of chakra and the manipulation of potent chakra and transferring chakra from one person to another. The notes even showed where she had made mention of current clan techniques and ways that they could be improved upon. It was the last, and even notes of potential original jutsu, that made him decide to make sure she wasn't disturbed. She still made it to her training periods and she still met her familial obligations, so if she wanted to use a good portion of her free time reading instead of training herself, he would allow it. Her notes _did_ appear promising after all, and she did seem to do a bit of practice on her own.

Currently, Hinata was going over her notes and checking over five different scrolls that mentioned chakra potency and regulation. She knew that Naruto shouldn't have multiple chakra sources, and therefore thought that his problem had to be a chaotic core, as she'd found precedence for it. In other words, knowing how large his reserves and chakra circulatory system's coils were, it was very possible that his core produced chakra sporadically. It was possible that his core was trying to produce a stronger chakra and that it was taking time to get that way. Maybe she could give him advice on how to work on leveling his chakra or maybe she could help him work on it, though she hadn't found anything in the records to support such a possibility.

"Hinata." The sudden voice of her father caused Hinata to jump and stop thinking of the budding fantasy beginning to go through her mind and drop the scroll she'd been holding in place for the past ten minutes.

"Yes, Father?" She watched silently as Hiashi looked over the scrolls laying about on the table before he settled his gaze on her.

"Have you been finding whatever information you seek in these scrolls? You had seemed to be studying that scroll intently." Hiashi ignored her instant blushing, finding it commonplace to show up in random situations. Quite frankly, he was making sure to ignore the fact that it was in conjunction with speaking about Uzumaki Naruto more than anything else.

"I have been finding... everything fine. It is mostly research," Hinata said quietly as Hiashi nodded in response.

"Yes, so it seems," he replied. "Should you require any assistance, feel free to let me know. I'm curious to see the results of some of your alterations to the clan techniques." Hinata blushed slightly as she realized that he'd somehow found out what she was working on.

"I will come to you if I need assistance, but ... I would prefer to show you the completed ... changes first." Hiashi was very pleased with her decision. While he'd like to be able to say he helped his daughter adapt and change the Hyuuga styles of combat, he was equally pleased that she wanted to attempt it on her own.

"I see. I've been very pleased with what I've seen so far. If you continue as you have, I fully expect wonderful results. Good luck, Hinata." At Hinata's nod, after a pleased smile, he turned and left, putting thoughts of her team to the back of his mind for later contemplation while proud of both himself and Hinata. Meanwhile, Hinata went back to the scrolls she'd been reading, which pretty much confirmed what she'd been researching; that what she was witnessing in Naruto's chakra circulatory system was impossible without a secondary chakra source, otherwise his own chakra core would be so erratic that it would kill him, or disable him in the very least before killing him.

_'Naruto-kun, how is it that you have this with only one core and still be alive? And with so much chakra at that?'_

xXxXxXx

"So we are of an agreement, then? For a trial period of three months, we're going to swap students with each other; Taijutsu will be with Gai, genjutsu will be with myself, ninjutsu with Kakashi," Kurenai ignored Kakashi's mutterings of protecting his beloved book from the big bad illusionist lady as she spoke, "kenjutsu with Hayate and Asuma for those who would like it and the secondary choices whenever the primary ones are unable to teach due to missions or personal matters. All agreed?" Kurenai watched as all of the assembled Jounin nodded, aside from Kakashi who was still nuzzling his orange book and releasing a slight amount of killer intent at the red-eyed beauty.

"I have no problems," Hayate paused long enough to cough, "with teaching some kenjutsu, but I should mention that I only know how to use swords. Anything else would be beyond me." Asuma took the cigarette out of his mouth as he spoke.

"I'm more of a brawler with trench knives and daggers, but I know some people who may be willing to work some kind of an arrangement out for more obscure weapons." Gai suddenly found himself with an idea.

"Ah, yes! My youthful Tenten is a weapons master! Her youthful father taught her everything she knows and runs a most youthful forge!" Those around him, while listening, couldn't help but wonder what may have happened to Gai as a child to make him into the ... man ... he was today. "He would probably be willing to exchange weapons training for their help in the shop or to buy from him exclusively!" Gai sat back into his seat, not even aware that he had risen, with a large smile, pleased with his idea as Kakashi looked up from nuzzling his book.

"Hm? Did you say something Gai?"

xXxXxXx

"**Alright, Naruto. We've opened all the seals except the Shiki Fuuin. While maintaining the others, I want you to take the section that controls the channeling of my chakra into you and add one link to the wind purification node,"** Kyuubi waited while Naruto shifted the seal appropriately before continuing, **"Good. Now, take the earth purification node and take the link off of it and put it to the water-based purification node... Excellent. Alright, last step, ready?"**

"Yea, I am. Give it to me straight, Doc." Naruto smiled cheekily as he held all nine layers of seals apart from each other. This was by far the most difficult thing he'd ever done with seals and he'd learned more in the past hour and a half than he had in the past several months, but it would be worth it. Each layer of seals was like a seal written on paper and then laid on top of the other, only without the paper and connected with short lines of connecting seal work. It was these, and the seals themselves, though thankfully only in part, that he was changing. The problem, however was that if he lost control and allowed the seal structure to collapse while he didn't have it exactly as he wanted, the results could destroy not only them, but potentially all of Konoha, though Kyuubi hadn't mentioned that part, but he trusted in Naruto enough for this or he wouldn't have offered it yet.

"**Alright. We'll lose communication between each other until you finish this last part once you start, so listen carefully. You're going to take the Shiki Fuuin seal and the six lines that connect to each base element node need to be expanded. Since we can't do that with what's already there, you will have to take each one and take them off at the same time and then reconnect them all at once as well. Start with Life, then Wind, Water, Fire, Earth and finally Death when you start to increase their size. Understand?"** Naruto nodded and the Kyuubi grunted once to tell Naruto to begin. He didn't want to say anything else in fear of having Naruto forget what he'd said.

"How much should I widen... them?" The seal structure wavered for only a moment while he spoke, but it was enough to scare him enough to pause his questioning.

"**As much as you feel you could handle. I would recommend about double their current size, but probably no more than three times or you may have slightly animalistic urges and habits that you'll take. I'll explain more later if you want, but I would recommend double to just over. And remember, Life, Wind, Water, Fire, Earth and Death."** Kyuubi knew that the order didn't really matter in what they were doing, but controlling the order as he had, he wanted Naruto to increase his affiliation with certain elements that he was already naturally adept at while the Life and Death nodes were a must in this case. He watched as Naruto disconnected the nodes, causing everything that both could see, including each other, turn translucent, hazy and lose their color. As Naruto increased the size of each connecting support to the seals to about double and half again their original size, the color of the whole mindscape altered in reflection of the element being used until the Death node was finally connected, turning the whole mindscape into a mirage of colors and lights before settling down. Naruto, finally exhausted and knowing he was done, let all nine layers of seals settle down on each other before falling onto his butt and sigh heavily.

"Whew! That was exhausting, Kyuubi!" The large fox rested on his forepaws, knowing what was about to hit once the seal changes took affect.

"**If you think that was bad, wait about five more seconds."** He chuckled darkly as Naruto looked at him curiously for a moment.

"What do you mean? What's happening in five se-AHHH!" Naruto's back arched backwards as a sudden wave of pain hit him and left almost as suddenly. Then another, followed by seven more just like it, each worse than the last. To Naruto, it had felt like someone had been whipping him, but hitting his whole body all at once rather than just his back like while he was in the orphanage. After the final wave hit, he laid on the ground, panting for air.

"W-w-what the hell w-was th-that?" He looked to see the Kyuubi in a similar state, only with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth and his fur ruffled in multiple places.

"**That was... the seal changing... Runt."** Kyuubi couldn't believe how much simply talking hurt when he didn't even have a body to feel the pain.

"N-next time... warn me f-first... bastard... f-fox..." As the last words left his lips, Naruto faded into unconsciousness, letting sleep take him.

"**No... f-fun... in that..."** Was all Kyuubi could get out before following his container into the warm embrace of blissful darkness.

xXxXxXx

"Jourei, can we really do this?" Tsuna clutched her husband's arm the next morning after she'd woken up and explained everything to her. "It sounds like we're going to be sacrificing this Hyuuga they want just to get our own daughter back!" Jourei sighed and held his wife's hand.

"Once we get Yume back, we'll be able to let them know what actually happened or something. But really, ninja have a much better chance than our daughter who's never even been in a fight to begin with, right?" Tsuna let out a shuddering breath.

"I don't like it. It feels like we'll be as bad as they are."

"I know, I really do. I don't like it either. But we really don't have a choice." He looked around the house, silently reminiscing about his stolen daughter as he tried to control his breathing. "If we don't do this, then they'll just come to kill us to cover any loose endings and try this with another family and then we die for nothing." Tsuna began to cry anew as she submitted herself to actually going through with the plan.

Jourei hugged her for a few minutes before finally getting up and grabbing the money left by the kidnapper to be sure they could pay for the mission and walked out the door, listening to his wife's sobbing intensify.

xXxXxXx

Naruto groggily pulled himself up from the floor where he had been laying while stretching and yawning. He could see the pink-orange light coming through his window as the day was beginning.

"_Naruto-kun! Ah!" Hinata was laying underneath him as he nipped at her collarbone and then sucking gently on the spot he'd bitten._

Naruto's eyes widened as he began getting flashes of the dreams he'd had the night before.

_Naruto sucked gently on a pulsing vein on Hinata's neck as she moaned and wriggled beneath him, taking in a deep shuddering breath. He snaked his hand up her bare side, leaving a trail of goosebumps over her pale flesh as it made his way to her developing breast where he lightly pinched her hardened nipple, receiving a high-pitched squeal of delight from the woman beneath him._

Naruto's breath came in gasps as he breathed heavier with each flash of the dreams. He could feel his body reacting as he remembered not only the visions of what happened, but how he felt in those dreams. Those very, _very_ realistic dreams.

"What the hell is-" He was cut off by the final vision of a naked Hinata, sitting in his very naked lap with her head thrown back as she screamed his name in pleasure with her fingernails digging into his shoulders as he nibbled on her tender flesh. As the last vision passed, Naruto wiped his forehead in shock and felt a light sheen of sweat.

"Th-that was... H-Hinata and... me... we..." Naruto gulped as he thought over what he'd seen.

"**You alright, Naruto?"** Kyuubi was a very happy fox. Admittedly, he'd had a part in Naruto having the dreams that Naruto had, but he'd only actually set the dream into motion of the two of them together on a date. He was very highly amused and happy with the fact that Naruto had taken the initiative on his own to let the dream progress itself. It just meant all the less work for him.

"Kyuubi... I think I'm sick," Naruto said as he began to panic. "I had an... odd dream." Naruto's eyes narrowed as he heard the Kyuubi begin to laugh.

"**N-Naruto! Haha! Th-those are dreams you'll be-begin to have as you grow older! Do you remember what your lessons in the Academy mentioned about puberty and such?"** Kyuubi snickered as realization seemed to hit Naruto as surely as Tora would claw his face.

"So this is just about that, then?" Naruto let out a heavy breath. "That's good." Kyuubi saw an opportunity to sow the seeds of a fruitful relationship, or at least get in some good teasing, and decided to take it.

"**Why is it good? Is there something wrong with Hinata?"** Naruto's eyes widened and he quickly shook his head.

"No, no, no! She's a great person," he began, but then slumped back onto the floor as he frowned in thought. "But... I can't think of anyone like that. Especially Hinata-chan. She's a member of what is practically a royal family in Konoha and I'm... well... me." Kyuubi didn't really need him to explain what he meant. He could practically hear Naruto remembering the countless instances where the villagers would call him names, the assassination attempts and other horrible things the villagers had said or done because of his existence in the boy.

"**Kit, you do realize that you have just as much right to love and happiness as any of those damned villagers, right? More so, even, because of what many of them have done to you."** Naruto sighed and shook his head.

"Maybe, but could you really think of anyone that would feel that way once that found out what I was?" Rather than wait for an answer, he got up and took off the clothes he still had on from the day before and began to take a shower, trying in vain to keep the images of the dream and Kyuubi's words out of his head. He was failing miserably.

xXxXxXx

Hinata woke up slowly, trying to remain in her dreams where she had Naruto's arms around her and where they were together. As she awoke, the details of the dream fled her mind once again, but she held on to the knowledge that Naruto was once again in them and with a sigh, she began her morning rituals.

Once she'd finished bathing and eating, she went back to her room and picked up one of the scrolls she'd written that held several different chakra control exercises she planned to give to Naruto. When she'd began copying, she hadn't thought about the lack of a Byakugan and had copied down all of their exercises, excited by the idea of giving him something that could help him out, but felt that maybe he could adapt them to his own style. It was something she had learned about him in the very beginning. If there was something that didn't work for him, then he'd change it and make it better than before and it would be all Naruto. Even when most of the Genin could perform the Bunshin no Jutsu and he couldn't, he'd managed to learn the much more highly advanced Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Sure, it was due to a traitor who attempted to use him and kill him, but that was standard of what could be summed up in only two words; 'only Naruto'.

_'Maybe we can try and think of a way to adapt the chakra exercises together.'_ Hinata giggled lightly as she thought of watching him try and come up with a way to adapt them himself. She knew he was far smarter than he had let on during the Academy, but there was only so much you could do to change an exercise based entirely on the eyesight of the Byakugan. Suddenly her eyes widened.

_'Maybe we won't be able to adapt them, but maybe I can be his eyes for him!'_ Suddenly, the day seemed to get far brighter. With a large smile, she strapped on her shuriken holster and left the estate quickly.

xXxXxXx

Naruto was only a few buildings away from his apartment when he finally stopped thinking about Hinata, his dream and Kyuubi's words enough to notice how he actually felt _physically_ and remembered in a rush everything that he and Kyuubi had done the night before and the pain.

_'Oi! You damn fuzzball! That hurt like hell last night!'_ He was answered by the fox's dark chuckles.

"**But it was funny!"** Naruto growled as he leapt from roof to roof.

_'Forget about that for now. Did it work? I just realized that I feel really light and I'm moving as fast as I normally do when I'm using a little chakra to run, but I'm not doing that at all now.'_ Kyuubi sighed heavily as Naruto listed off his questions and observations.

"**Okay, I'll start from the beginning. When we changed the seals, it allowed more of my chakra to come through and into your circulatory system. This means that you now have a constant and, most importantly, _steady_ flow of my chakra and your own chakra, making it a little stronger than it was before because they're mixing properly now, which means I can also help a little with your physical development. You'll probably need to fine-tune your chakra control, though, but it shouldn't be different enough to make any of your current jutsu to fail, except maybe where you are currently at on the Rasengan training."** Naruto pouted as he heard that.

_'Aw, damn it! I was doing so well, too!'_ Kyuubi chuckled again. This just meant that he'd learn all the more before trying to learn his father's prized Hiraishin technique.

"**Regardless, having more chakra in your system is like having constant adrenaline. This means you're going to be a little faster and a little stronger than normal. We'll have to test a bit to see how badly it affected your control, though I doubt it made it too much worse."**

_'Alright. When we get there, I'll try a few jutsu and exercises to see.'_ Kyuubi nodded in his cell.

"**That should be fine."**

Naruto decided the best way to start off his tests with his newfound chakra would be to pump it into his legs and try to get to the training ground as quickly as possible. He found immediately that he should have started off small. As he pumped chakra into his legs like normal, his first step rocketed him over the next two buildings and caused the air to rush into his eyes with his new speed.

"Whoa!" Naruto's grin was as wide as it could get as he passed through the village and into the training ground at record pace. Kyuubi himself was pleased as well. It had been a long time since he'd gone fast, and Naruto was moving nearly as fast as he'd ever gone.

_'That new chakra is totally awesome!'_ Kyuubi laughed at Naruto's enthusiasm as he landed.

"**Well, part of that is because you've got more of my chakra in your system now, but part of it is also your circulatory system. Do you remember the pain we felt after changing the sealwork?"**

_'Yea, what _was_ that about, anyway?'_

"**Well, when my chakra came through, it forcibly widened your pathways a tiny bit. That was what the pain was about and why you're getting a little bit more chakra along with the new density."**

_'Alright. A bit weird, but whatever. Time for testing!'_ Naruto quickly ran over to a tree and ran upwards, only to launch himself from the tree in a shower of broken bark from too much chakra. As he lay on his back watching the sky through the leaves, one thought blared through his mind. _'Owww...'_

xXxXxXx

Hinata found herself in the branches ten meters above the ground as she watched Naruto climbed from the ground where he'd just landed heavily on his back after attempting the tree climbing exercise.

_'I wonder why Naruto-kun is having trouble with tree climbing,'_ she thought, activating her Byakugan to look at his circulatory system as he ran up the tree, this time without trouble. Her eyes widened as she realized that there weren't any more of those odd fluctuations in his circulatory system and that his chakra itself seemed to flow faster. _'He really fixed it in only one day?'_ Hinata was most definitely surprised. She continued to watch him as he ran up and down the trees and from one tree to another several times before launching himself back off of the trees and into the clearing before grinning and throwing his hand up with a whoop of happiness. With a smile and a blush, Hinata jumped from the trees and into the clearing where Naruto turned to her in surprise.

"Ohayo, Hinata-chan!" Naruto flashed his normal smile and waved at her as she approached.

"Ohayo, Naruto-kun." Hinata began to push her fingertips together as she approached. The two sat next to each other as they waited for the appointed meeting time. Hinata was blushing as she thought about how close she was to Naruto, and because she had her Byakugan activated to such a small degree that the usual veins at the side of her eyes didn't bulge like normal, but allowed her to see about five feet around her in about a one-hundred and eighty degree field of vision. It was something she'd taught herself to do while in the Academy. Naruto was blushing as well, but it was for a very different, and much more inappropriate reason.

_'Damn it! Why the hell can't I get her voice out of my head!'_ Unheard by Naruto, Kyuubi chuckled amusedly as he replayed the final moments of Naruto's dream in his mind, making him listen to Hinata's moans and her screams as she called out his name.

_**'You'll figure it out soon enough, Kit. And when you do...'**_ He let out a perverted chuckle, reminding himself that demon lords do _not_ giggle, as he tried to get things to go the way he planned.

"Naruto-kun, I n-noticed that you ... managed to fix that chakra problem ... we found." Naruto, thankful to have something to talk about aside from thinking about the audio running through his head, grinned widely at her.

"Oh, yea!" He realized he hadn't thought of anything to tell her to explain the change, so decided he'd work with as close to the truth as possible. "I have some seals on my body, similar to the gravity seal I released against Kakashi, do you remember that?" Hinata nodded.

"Yes, Naruto-kun. It was near the end of the fight."

"Yup! Well, I've got a few others also and they were interfering with each other, so I had to change the main one. I did, and now everything is better."

"Have you tried water walking yet? I noticed ... that you got the hang of tree climbing quickly." Naruto nodded and leaned back against the tree.

"Yea, I got it pretty quick, thankfully. But I haven't tried water walking yet. There isn't any water too close to us and I didn't want to leave and not be here when Kurenai-sensei comes." Hinata nodded and the two spoke of inconsequential things for a few minutes, both unaware of Shino's early arrival and his waiting in the trees where Kurenai found him.

"What are you waiting up here all alone for, Shino?" Kurenai couldn't detect any obvious reaction from the boy but waited for a response regardless. She'd learned that he always thought of his answers before actually giving them.

"I wished to give Hinata-san and Naruto-san some time to speak together without my presence." Kurenai chuckled and looked at the two at the base of the tree, pleased to see the two talking amicably.

"You're certainly more observant than some of the boys your age," she said with a smile. _'And many of the men as well,'_ she thought with a mental grimace. When he didn't respond, she let out a quiet sigh and motioned him to follow her.

"Come on, we've got to get the day started, I'm afraid." Shino and Kurenai jumped into the clearing and landed a comfortable distance from Naruto and Hinata who turned to look at the newcomers and raised to their feet.

"Good morning Kurenai-sensei, Shino!" Naruto waved as Hinata greeted the two newcomers.

"Good morning you two. I've got a few things to discuss with you and then we'll get to our training," she began as Naruto and Hinata took their seats under the tree again and Shino stood beside them.

"Now, those friends I mentioned last night were a few Jounin that are among the top of their selected fields. Hayate and Gai weren't both here until two days ago since they were on missions, but they were up to the meeting yesterday." She was slightly surprised that Naruto just simply sat there, listening to every word. Though he did still have a goofy grin on his face that got goofier as she spoke.

"Now, I spoke with Gai for taijutsu, Kakashi for ninjutsu, Asuma and Hayate for potential kenjutsu, a ... friend of mine for some specialized training that will probably be a little harsh, but very worth it and a few others for similar studies. We've come to an agreement of sorts where we'll learn from some of the best in their chosen fields by going to them for temporary periods of time."

"What does this mean for us, exactly, Sensei?" Naruto looked between the others to see if there was anything he could actually glean from them but saw them simply wearing curious expressions.

"Well, I'll take on teams for genjutsu training while Kakashi, Gai or whoever else has one team or another to teach their preferred fields. This is a new idea that we're going to try for a few months to see if it works out or not. We want to try and let our current Genin learn from the best in each field rather than those who simply know it enough to survive or something similar." She watched as Shino seemed to take it in stride. Hinata seemed to shift slightly closer to Naruto as he seemed to ponder on his own thoughts.

"So, for now, we're going to train like we normally do and we'll start our new training regimen at the beginning of next month so that all of the Jounin involved have a chance to prepare for their new pupils rather than work with those who've known their style for a little while now. So we've got a little over three weeks until it starts. Now let's go!" She gathered them together and began the day of training. The four of them spent the rest of the day training and performing their usual D-rank missions, unaware that a frantic, middle-aged man was half way to Konoha with a fake mission.

xXxXxXx

Naruto had left his team after their final mission nearly three hours ago. In that time, he had managed to get the hang of water walking without any more difficulty than he had with tree climbing, but was having difficulty with his Rasengan. He and all five hundred clones that had been working on it for two and a half hours. With a sigh, he slumped to the ground and looked around at the clones surrounding him.

"Alright guys! We've almost got it! Go ahead and disperse yourselves and I'll try it again and see what happens!" It was an instant later than he remembered he didn't want them all to disperse at once. "Ah! Wait!" Suddenly, he was surrounded by smoke as all of his clones disappeared. He grabbed his head in pain, which distracted him from the gasp a small distance away from the girl that had been watching him in astonishment. After a few seconds, the pain went away, leaving him gasping on the ground, thankful he'd already sat down.

"Okay," he panted, "let's try this again." He stood up and concentrated on the sphere forming in his hand, appearing after three seconds. He took a moment to look at it, seeing no discernible differences, but recognizing that it _felt_ different.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto rushed the tree he'd been working on and the glowing blue ball ground into the trunk perfectly before the back end of the trunk exploded into a shower of splinters and bark.

"Yatta! I did it!" Naruto hopped around in little circles and threw his hand up repeatedly in triumph as he realized he finally had the technique mastered.

"**Good job, Gaki. You finally got it. The speed will come with more practice, but now you can refine your technique with it."** Kyuubi was really quite proud of the boy. He hadn't expected him to be able to advance his control that quickly.

"Thank! Does this mean I can look at Dad's technique now?" Behind her tree, Hinata tried to figure out both who Naruto was talking to and what his father's technique was, including who and where the man himself was.

"**That was the deal,"** the Kyuubi sighed. **"Let's go ahead and look at it and see what it entails."** Naruto let out a whoop and grabbed his ninpou scroll. After getting his father's scroll and unrolling it, he began reading to the Kyuubi, even though he didn't need it, since it helped him concentrate anyway.

"The Hiraishin no Jutsu was created by myself and the reason behind my nickname, 'The Yellow Flash of Konoha'. It allowed me to move over large distances. Although it is often compared with the Body Flicker Technique, the speed of this jutsu is much greater. In principle, it is similar to the Summoning Technique, but instead sends me somewhere rather than bringing something to me like Gamabunta. Additionally, it makes no noise and produces no puff of smoke, which allowed me to appear behind someone unnoticed." Naruto, even with his enhanced hearing, was unable to hear Hinata's gasp of surprise. By reading off the technique and his earlier words, even if she had no clue who he was speaking to, she was able to figure out the secret of his father that he promised to tell his team when they trusted each other.

"To activate this jutsu, I needed a special seal to mark the destination, which I used as a focus point. It is this seal that allowed me to know exactly where I wanted to go and be. After this is done, I could almost instantaneously transport myself to that location. I always made sure to apply the formula in advance to every one of my weapons such as kunai and shuriken or wristbands that I'd make a client wear if I was on bodyguard duty. It is also possible to leave a formula in an area I'd been to by either placing some kind of tag or drawing it wherever I needed to be. I was particularly fond of metal tags that could be hidden in simple places. The device that you put the seal on, however, must have three spikes or prongs come from it. This is used by the seal drawing in elemental chakra from the ambient nature chakra that is always around and, when I use the jutsu, it activates by drawing in earth, lightning and water chakra. Because I have air for my primary and fire as my secondary nature affinities, my seal specified which ones to pull in since all elements are needed for it to function properly."

"This technique is the reason we, Konoha, came out victorious in the Iwa-Konoha Ninja War. After having my subordinates toss marked kunai randomly into the enemy ranks, I used the technique to appear within their ranks and slaughter them one by one before they could even react. Understand that I wasn't proud to take all of those lives, Naruto, but I held no reservations when it meant the safety of my village."

"Now, once proficient in how the technique works, I theorize it is also possible to use the Hiraishin no Jutsu without the marker seal. I think this because I did it without a seal once on accident. Again, the seal was used for targeting purposes, or something to concentrate onto and to manipulate the chakra I didn't have an affinity for, but a person can use all elements, just not very well. If you know the person or location well enough that you can picture it perfectly in your mind, just like the seal I used, then you'll find that you can send yourself anywhere at a moment's notice if you can work all of the elements at once, even if I was only able to do it once.) Or, have loved ones tattoo this symbol somewhere very unobtrusive and unnoticeable. This particular seal you see here, when drawn with at least a drop of blood, will 'signal' the person who's blood was used when chakra is added to it or if it interacts with earth-based chakra, such as tossing a marked kunai into the ground, the earth's natural chakra will activate the seal. It makes it an invaluable tool for those who are precious to you and run a high risk of abduction."

"Below are the technical notes on using this jutsu, my son. Be very careful on who you give this to or show it to, but I wish you the best of luck. Use it as well as I did." Naruto took a moment to think about the man his father had to have been to have been able to write what he had and have so much power behind even a written word. Knowing that the Yondaime had entrusted him with something so incredibly powerful. The Kyuubi himself was quiet, allowing Naruto have to his moment was he checked over the technical notes about the jutsu and how it worked, amazed at the man's genius.

"**I want you to read over the directions twice, at least, and then make as many Kage Bunshin as you can and let them work on the technique using this same symbol, okay Naruto?"** Naruto frowned as he came out of his thoughts.

"Huh, why?"

"**Because it's getting to be kind of late and you've nearly exhausted yourself. By letting your clones work on the jutsu tonight while you rest, you'll have a good starting place tomorrow and beyond when you practice it. This technique uses no handseals, so it's raw chakra manipulation just like the Rasengan and the Shunshin. Just far more involved and with elemental chakra, which is dangerous to work with and I would rather your clones get hurt than you."** Naruto nodded to the forest surrounding him.

"I got you. So let as many of my Kage Bunshin as I can make learn this so that, when I actually try it, I'll know more about it and it'll be safer for myself since it's so dangerous, yes?" He received the equivalent of a mental nod as Hinata realized that she was too close to not get caught if he created as many clones as he could. She quickly high-tailed it out of there, keeping her Byakugan active for the show.

"**Right. Now get cracking!"** Naruto grumbled as he complied.

"Yea, yea, Slave Driver... Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto funneled as much chakra as he could pull, including about a quarter of that same amount of Kyuubi's chakra to create the clones, surprising himself, Kyuubi and Hinata as just under three thousand clones popped into existence. He blinked as he looked around at the mass of clones. Hinata was hiding behind a tree, a Naruto clone less than ten feet away, trying to breathe as silently as possible.

_'So ... many ... NARUTO-KUNS!'_ It took every ounce of self-restraint for her to keep from glomping the nearest victim. Where was a plushie when you needed it?

"**Damn. Nice job,"** Kyuubi offered, rather surprised.

"You guys know what to do," Naruto yelled. Some of them yelled while others nodded. "Alright! Try it out and we'll see what we have tomorrow!" Each clone began reading over the copy of the scroll that had materialized with them since the original had been holding it at the time, double-checking everything that they had planned. Meanwhile, the real Naruto took off for his apartment, unwittingly passing a hiding Hinata while thinking about trying to finish learning the shunshin soon. About four minutes later, he began getting the memories of clones who'd already died, some in rather painful fashions. Apparently, if they failed, it was very similar to the affect of a Kage Bunshin Daibakuha.

"Uh, thanks for the idea of this, by the way, Fuzzy..." Every few seconds, as the memories of a felled clone came to him, his eyebrow twitched, even after he'd changed into his pajamas and was laying in bed.

_'Damnit... this is going to make going to sleep a pain in the ass...'_

xXxXxXx

**Author's Note:** - Quick note about how Naruto made it so far on the Rasengan when it took him a month to learn it the first time, and that was without the daily training sessions interfering. Naruto, in this fic, read through the whole section on the Forbidden Scroll regarding the Kage Bunshin technique, regardless as to whether he did it or not in Canon, and that means he knows the benefits of training with them (as explained by saying he uses five-hundred of the buggers to train each day.) This means that he will gain that much experience that quickly (In this regard, it should have taken 30 clones one day, but took longer due to his chakra control problems, which aren't actually fully fixed yet.). This will hold true for most jutsu (yea, don't expect it to be the case for ALL jutsu, of course.) - And no, he will not be learning the Hiraishin for a little while. I admit, he'll learn it about 1 arc earlier than I had originally planned so that I can do something I found VERY humorous. I'll let you know when we get there, trust me. I loved the concept.

Yes, Naruto will be powerful in this fic, but it won't be sudden or soon. He's going to actually have a lot working against him as other things work for him, and they won't be mutually exclusive.


End file.
